Beyond The Blood
by PoisonIvies
Summary: A new school year for Autumn and her twin sister Elena, their bonds of family closer than ever. But do some things go beyond blood ties? (Rated T for now, quite possibly going up to M)
1. Blood Ties

**A/N - Originally written in the 1st person but then converted to the 3rd. Sorry for any clunkiness because of this. This applies to Chapters 1,2+3. This decision was made because the direction I wanted to take the story in, and the number of characters involved, it was far easier to write it in 3rd than in 1st. **

**Thanks for understanding. XO**

**Beyond The Blood**

Chapter One

The house felt so cold and empty all the time now, the spaces in it were absent of life despite those who stood in them. She felt detached from all the places she had once loved to be in, the places she had stood and laughed with people she had cared for. Now she knew how much that care could hurt when it was torn away, cruelly and suddenly, and she desperately didn't want to care anymore. The photographs on the mantelpiece showed the faces of people whose eyes were now closed and she half wanted to take them down.

She looked dispassionately at the fireplace where logs were laid out to be lit, in case it was cold tonight, which she strongly doubted it would be. It was only early October so she thought it would be very unusual if the place needed lighting. She turned around as the sound of clattering feet came down the stairs, and she saw her Aunt Jenna come in to view. Jenna wasn't paying attention to where she was going and as she looked up she jumped, having not noticed the girl by the fireplace before.

"Oh!" she said breathlessly, "I didn't see you there Autumn"

Autumn just nodded in agreement, "Is Elena up yet?"

"I heard her moving about," said Jenna, "You're up early, are you okay?"

"As I can be," Autumn said, "Just didn't sleep very well"

Jenna made a shape with her mouth that Autumn took to be a sympathetic look that she returned. The death of her parents hadn't just thrown my world into chaos; it had also changed Jenna's life forever. Three months ago she had been the cool aunt, studying at Duke University and now she was the legal guardian of three kids under the age of eighteen. It can't have been easy for her; then again, it hadn't been easy for any of us.

"Have you had breakfast?" she asked

"Not yet," Autumn said, "Elena and I were gonna head to school and grab something from the coffee stand there"

"Oh okay, well I'm just going to head out for my run, will you get Jeremy up if he's not moving by the time you're ready to go?" Jenna asked

"Yeah sure," Autumn said with a weak smile as she turned to get her trainers off the shoe rack by the door.

As Jenna bent down to tie up her laces, another set of footsteps came clattering across the hall and leading down the stairs. Autumn watched as her twin sister Elena came hurrying into view. Autumn smiled, no matter what was going on in my life, her sister always understood her, Elena wasn't just her twin, being with her was like looking in mirror. Physically they were utterly identical, they both had long chocolate brown hair that fell in a straight wave, Elena had hers cut to my mid back whereas Autumn's fell to my hips and a section at the front was dyed red. This was mainly done so people who didn't know them that well could actually tell them apart. Their faces were the same, down to the colour and shape of our eyes, and the apples of cheeks that became more prominent when we smiled to show perfect white teeth.

"Are you nearly ready to go El?" Autumn asked her, having yet to move from my position by the fireplace.

"Yeah nearly," she said passing Jenna as she went out the front door for her run, "Just need to grab a book from the study. Are you packed already? How long have you been up?"

"About half an hour, couldn't sleep very well, thought I might as well get all sorted then," Autumn said with a nonchalant shrug. Elena didn't hear her answer because she'd already disappeared into the study, Autumn knew she'd have known what she said though; Elena could always tell what she was thinking before she even said it. Sometimes it was annoying, most of the time it was useful and occasionally even endearing.

Autumn stood watching her rush around for the next five minutes before she was finally ready, bag on her shoulder.

"Who's driving; me or you?" Elena asked tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Me," Autumn said with a grin, "Being the eldest"

"Oh! By all of ten minutes," she said answering my grin, but shrugged anyway, "Good thing anyway, I think I left my car keys upstairs"

Autumn rolled my eyes at her before picking up my bag, "Hey, when you were upstairs, did you hear any sign of life from Jeremy's room?"

"Nope," Elena said

"Alright, well can you go put this in my car while I go get him up?" Autumn said, "He's gonna be late anyway, but better late than never I suppose?"

"Definitely" she said as she took the school bag, as Autumn moved to the stairs. She took them two at a time not caring about the noise; she was getting Jeremy up anyway.

"Jeremy!" Autumn yelled through his door before knocking on it, "Get your lazy ass out of bed!"

She heard no reply after about five seconds so she opened the door, to be met by the smell of boy and the faint lingering smell of weed. She crinkled her nose as she peered into the darkness before making her way over to the window and shoving the curtains wide open. She heard a very girly shriek from the bed, one that definitely did not belong to Jeremy and she whirled around just in time to see Vicky Donovan pulling the bedclothes up to hide her face.

Jeremy was just returning the land of the living so she didn't bother with long sentences.

"Get up. School starts soon. Also get her out of her, otherwise Jenna won't be happy" Autumn said to his slowly moving form, "See you later"

She got a groaned note of assent from the pile of bedclothes, took that as enough affirmation that he was about to get up, and headed back downstairs to meet Elena in the car. It was a bright day outside, and the leaves were just beginning to turn on the trees. She climbed into the driving seat and slammed the door behind her.

"Vicky Donovan was in there," she said shortly to her sister who was leaning back against her seat, her phone in her hands.

"What? Really?" Elena said her eyes flicking quickly up to my face, surprise written on her features.

"Yeah, I didn't know her and Jeremy were together," Autumn said as they backed out the driveway and started on the road to school. Elena knew more about social gossip than she did, so if there was anything she was missing out on then El would be likely to fill her in.

"Neither did I," Elena said, "That's why I was surprised, as far as I knew she was still with Tyler Lockwood"

"Well he's going to pleased," Autumn said sarcastically.

"Hardly," Elena said, "He's been looking for an excuse to beat on Jeremy since they were in junior high. Jeremy never was especially smart when it came to girls"

"Yeah, but are any of us when feelings are involved?" Autumn said pointedly. Elena shrugged because she knew that Autumn was talking about Elena and Matt, Vicky's brother. They had broken up just after the accident, because Elena couldn't see where their relationship was going, whereas Matt seemed to have grand plans involving marriage and at least three kids. Autumn thought it was a good move on Elena part, to be thinking about huge life decisions like that at the age of seventeen was far too quick for my liking. Don't get her wrong, she liked Matt, she just didn't see too many prospects in that kind face. Elena felt guilty about hurting his feelings, however.

"Yeah, that's going to be awkward today," she said uncomfortably, her mouth a little moue expressing her emotions.

"I'm sure it'll be alright, Matt's a big boy, he'll get over it," Autumn said attempting to raise her spirits.

"Yeah, but Autumn, he was really in love with me. Like _really in love_," she said emphasising the last three words as we turned into the school parking lot.

"I know, but we all have knockbacks and stuff, hence the reason I don't get that involved!" Autumn said chirpily. Elena grinned; she knew Autumn's philosophy on relationships; that she didn't mind having make out sessions and mindless fumbles under the bleachers with boys who were mildly attractive, but that she was quite happy to remain firmly single until she found someone who she could truly see myself being with. Autumn didn't see the point of throwing her lot in with a boy that she thought was merely 'okay', or who she was going to get totally bored with within a couple of months. She needed something deeper, something more intense to keep her happy.

Autumn parked in her usual spot; next to the space where she knew their mutual friend Caroline would park. She reached behind her and pulled her bag off the backseat before getting out of the car and blinking in the sunlight once again.

"Alright, well I'm going to meet Bonnie by the bagel bar," said Elena, "Are you going to wait for Caroline?"

"Yeah," Autumn said, "I'll come find you in five, get me a bagel as well?"

"Sure," Elena said, "Usual coffee as well?"

"Please," Autumn said with a smile. Elena turned her back on her sister and started to walk around to the side of the school, where the outdoor eating area was situated, along with various stands that sold food right throughout the day.

They were among the first few people to school and Autumn watched as the lot filled up around her, people climbing out of their cars and noticing the filled spot that had been empty for many months. This was the Gilbert's first day back at school since the accident; the first day of Autumn and Elena's Junior year, the first of Jeremy's Sophomore.

She heard the familiar sound of pop music float into the car park, and get closer as a baby blue Volkswagen Beetle pulled into the spot directly next to where she was leaning. Her blonde haired best friend, Caroline, was bopping her head as she turned the ignition off, the music dying with it. She smiled as she saw Autumn through the window, Caroline grabbed her bag off the seat next to her and got out of the car, locking the door behind her.

"Hey Autumn!" she said, hugging her tightly, even though they had only seen each other yesterday. Autumn smiled and hugged her back; Caroline and her were as different as chalk and cheese in personality and in looks, and yet somehow through it all, they had managed to become (and stay) the best of friends.

"Hey Care," Autumn said as they broke, "Do you wanna go over? Elena's getting us coffee"

"Sure thing," Caroline said with a smile as we headed out over the grass, the windows of the school glinting in the sun.

"Feels good to be back," she said as she walked.

"I guess," Autumn said with a smile, "It feels very different. At the same time though, it feels like something of a new start"

"It is, this year is going to be good," Caroline said optimistically, her smile sunny and it constantly was.

"Well we'll have to see what Bonnie says about that!" Autumn said with somewhat of a giggle.

"Oh Mystic Bonnie…" Caroline said with a grin, "Yeah, well we'll have to ask her to do some of her voodoo and give us her prediction."

"I wonder what she'll come up with?" Autumn said wryly.

"Oh I don't know," Caroline said with a giggle and then intoned in a deep voice, "Autumn, I can see a dark and handsome stranger in your future! Just out of reach!"

Autumn laughed at the most predictable prophecy in the book as we rounded the corner and spotted Elena and Bonnie sitting at a table in the centre of the square.

"Let's go find out then," she said as we headed over to join the others and start our new school year.


	2. There's Two Sides To Every Story

Chapter Two

Autumn had split from Caroline, Bonnie and Elena in the morning because she had fine art class whilst they had geography. They had a few split options; for example, Autumn took music whilst they took religion. She had been playing piano since she was old enough to sit at the stool, lately though she hadn't sat down at it much, finding little reason to play.

She met back up with them at lunchtime and was nearly barreled over by Caroline as she came over to the table where Autumn had sat, having just bought her lunch.

"Have you seen the new guy?!" Caroline hissed excitedly, but loud enough that everyone nearby heard her anyway.

"Er… no?" Autumn asked with her spoon of yoghurt halfway towards her mouth.

"He's really hot!" Caroline said sitting down next to her and stealing one of her strawberries. She smacked her hand lightly with her spoon as Caroline went for another one. It also amused her that the first thing Caroline had to say about the boy was whether he was hot or not.

"What's his name?" Autumn asked as Elena and Bonnie came over.

"Oh, talking about the new guy?" asked Elena sitting down.

"Yeah," said Caroline answering for me, "Isn't he gorgeous?"

Elena smiled and blushed, "Yeah he definitely is; I don't think he saw any of us though"

"Wait, you've not had classes with him?" Autumn asked, "How do you know he's new then?"

"We saw him picking up his schedule from the office" said Bonnie

"Oh okay, stalkers" Autumn said with a grin.

"It's okay though," said Caroline chirpily, "We'll get to check him out in history class this afternoon!"

"How do you know that?" asked Elena

"Well we know he's a Junior, so he's either going to be in that class or in tomorrow morning's set, he looked pretty smart so I'm guessing it's going to be this afternoons" said Caroline.

"I equally love and am appalled by the fact that you spent time figuring that out," Autumn said, "Anyway, who says this afternoons class if for smart people? They let you in"

"Oi!" said Caroline in a mock offended voice and hit her on the arm. She giggled at her friend and Caroline huffed in mock outrage.

At the beginning of the history class, however, Autumn couldn't see anyone who looked remotely out of place, so she figured Caroline must have been wrong. Halfway through Mr. Tanner's speech about European Revolutions, however, there was a knock at the door and a boy she didn't recognise walked in, clutching a piece of paper in his hand.

"Hi, is this Mr. Tanner's history class?" asked the guy softly. She had to agree with Elena and Caroline as her eyes drank him in, he was very attractive to look at. He had mid-brown hair and a well-built figure, accentuated by the shirt he was wearing. She couldn't see his face properly as he was still turned to talk to our history teacher.

"Yes, and you are?" asked Tanner rudely

"Stephen Salvatore, I'm new here today," said the guy seemingly unperturbed by Tanner's manner of speech.

"Well take a seat Mr. Salvatore and try not to disturb the class any further," said Tanner before turning back to his notes.

The newcomer turned to take the only seat that was available; the one next to Caroline and as he did so he looked up, taking in some of the face of his classmates. His eyes slid to Elena's face, his own features curiously blank, then to Bonnie's and then down the line to Autumn. She dropped her gaze so he didn't think she was staring but not before she'd seen a look of intense shock in his eyes.

She wondered why he would be shocked; most people were intrigued by the identical nature of Elena and herself. He hadn't looked intrigued but simply taken aback. She shook it off as Mr. Tanner continued to bombard us with questions about stuff he hadn't actually taught us yet. Who the hell cared who Napoleon's younger brother was? She thought Tanner just liked to sneer at our ignorance, although surely it was him who appeared more ignorant through his domineering nature?

After class we all had Maths and as she walked down the corridor beside Elena, she felt eyes watching them go, but when she turned around the hallway was deserted, everyone else already having gone on ahead.

"What's up?" asked Caroline, noticing her unease.

"Nothing," Autumn said with a smile, "Just thought I'd dropped something was all"

Most of them didn't like Maths, except Bonnie who seemed to thrive at it. All the symbols and diagrams just seemed to click in her brain. Autumn just didn't really see the point; after school she was never going to have to find the radius of a circle ever again.

When the bell rang for the end of school she felt it hadn't come a moment too soon. They all walked out into the afternoon sunshine and stopped outside by the parking lot. She saw the new boy, Stephen, get into his car and drive away, turning left out of the lot and towards the outskirts of town.

"Hey Elena, do you mind driving home, I'm going to visit mom and dad," Autumn said rummaging in the pocked of my bag for the car keys before dropping them in her hand.

"Yeah that's fine, you sure you don't want company?" Elena asked, she had been to visit them yesterday so Autumn doubted she would want to come again.

"No, it's alright, I'd like to go alone," Autumn said, "Can you take my bag though?"

"Sure," Elena said taking it off me.

"Alright, well I'll see you guys later then?" Autumn said to the group as a farewell.

"Yes, remember that Bon and I are coming over later to discuss outfits for tomorrow!" said Caroline excitedly.

Autumn grinned at her, "Alright, but make sure it's after Jenna does dinner, she won't be pleased if that gets interrupted… again"

"Alright, alright," said Caroline with a roll of her eyes.

"See you later!" Autumn said, waving as she walked off in the direction of the back of the school, and the footpath past the houses that led to the cemetery. It was a nice walk today in the sunshine, and without her bag it was positively pleasant. It seems odd to consider a walk to see dead parents as "pleasant" but seeing as this was the only way she got to talk to them these days, she figured she needn't be morbid about it.

The cemetery itself is empty; it backed onto the woodland that eventually led to Wickery Bridge and the river where her parents died. She moved through the headstones, some weathered, some new, until she found the one she was looking for and sat down in front of it upon the freshly mown grass. She hadn't brought flowers but the ones Aunt Jenna had bought three days ago were still going strong.

The conversation that she held was usually just mindless chatter, but it was nice to feel as though they're listening. She told them about her day and about the new boy in class, who looked something close to horrified when he saw Elena and her in the same room. She tried to hash out what that was about but she couldn't figure it out in her head, in the end she guessed it was nothing, just an overreaction.

I drew my cardigan a little closer around her shoulders as the wind started to get up. She looked skyward and saw that clouds had closed in on the blue sky and the weather was turning fairly fast. She figured she still had at least half an hour before it even threatened rain, however, so she continued to talk. She talked about how she hadn't played the piano in a good long while and was worried that she would have forgotten how to do it properly by the time she came to again. She pushed her hair back from her face as the wind started to whip it against her cheeks.

It was then Autumn felt all the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, and the feeling of being watched returned to her. She looked around her but the cemetery was still deserted but the feeling of being watched didn't go away. She looked above her into the trees, feeling almost foolish as she did so, and noticed a large black crow sitting amongst the branches of an old ash tree that was overhanging where she sat. She laughed in spite of herself, and also because of relief; there was nobody here, just a crow with a beady eye.

She turned back to the headstone as she felt the first drop of rain on her cheek. She said her goodbyes and turned to head away, towards the path that led to Wickery Bridge. She walked swiftly because the graveyard was making me feel really uncomfortable, and she couldn't help but feel uneasy about what appeared to be a gathering thunderstorm. A dead rose head flew past my ankles where it had been blown off its stem by the vicious wind, and she watched as it hit a tree trunk and lay still.

The rain started to fall in earnest, bringing with it the prickly feeling on the back of her neck once again, there was nobody in the cemetery so she guessed nobody would think it weird if she started to jog. As she picked up my pace, however, it did nothing to shake her feeling, she felt as if it were following her, riding on the wind and in the droplets of rain. Her heart was beating fast as she started to run in earnest, from what she wasn't sure but she was almost positive that this couldn't be just a feeling. Her sense of unease had almost grown to one of danger and every instinct in her body was telling me not to turn around.

Her feet pounded the ground at a pace that was almost a sprint as she saw Wickery Bridge ahead of her; something told me that she would be safe once she got across it and out of the way of the cemetery altogether. Her foot caught on stick as she ran and she came crashing to my knees, ignoring the stabbing pain in her shin however as she picked myself up and hurtled towards the bridge. her feet clattered on the wooden planks as she ran over it, and the second she was on the other side she doubled over with her eyes closed to catch my breath. The ominous feeling had lifted with the sound of running water and she rubbed at her side to work the stitch out. She stayed bent over for about ten seconds as her head cleared.

Autumn stood up steadily and she let out a little yelp of surprise. Directly in front of her stood a dark haired man; with a look of what might have been concern and yet confusion on his angular face. His black leather jacket, jeans and boots could have been the outfit of a motorbike rider, only she could see no motorbike parked on the road.

"Katherine?" he asked, his voice testing out the word as if he hadn't said it in this questioning manner for a very long time.

Regardless of whether that was the case or not she was quick to set him straight, "No sorry, I'm not Katherine"

"Oh," he said, his chocolate eyes looking even more confused and alarmed if that were possible, and for just a second, she thought she saw something move in their depths. His composure quickly returned, however, as he took in my heavy breathing and the bleeding cut she had just registered on my shin.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice as smooth as velvet, his voice sounding positively bored.

"Umm yes, I'll be fine thank you" Autumn said, registering that the rain had stopped and the awful wind appeared to have died down. She made to move past him and began to head away down the road towards the path that led to her house. That man was the second person to day to be almost alarmed upon seeing her, and it wasn't something that she could shake. She wanted to look back to see whether he was watching her go, but for embarrassments sake she tried not to.

She vaguely wondered whether he was lost, or a newcomer needing directions. She had never seen his face around the town before and she realised she had been terribly rude by not asking him if needed assistance. Autumn turned back to see whether this was the case but the road behind her was empty. Her eyes darted around to the side of the road and across the bridge but he was nowhere to be seen. She shook her head, that was odd, where could he possibly of gone so fast?

She turned on heel to continue walking, determined that next time she came here she would bring someone with her. Today had just felt a little bit uncertain for her liking. As she turned left to take the path to the house, a large crow flew over her head and towards the outskirts of town. It had flown so close that she had felt the rush of air on her face as its wings beat towards its body. She shuddered and started a steady jog the rest of the way home.


	3. A Murder Of Crows

Chapter Three

_Stephen paced around the room at the top of the boarding house, throwing pages this way and that in attempt to find something that might explain what he had seen that day. His hands fell on books, before throwing them to the floor in anger when it wasn't the right one. The mocking portrait sat upon on the bookshelf, almost laughing at his inability to find what he needed to answer the questions burning at his brain. Never in his wildest dreams, or nightmares had he supposed that this was even possible, never mind two -_

_- He heard the creak of the floorboard the second pressure was applied to it and he whirled around, his eyes dilating in shock at the sight that met him. _

"_Hello, brother" said the figure that stood just inside his open window that had been closed, and surely locked, only moments before. Stephen's every instinct was telling him to either attack the suave face that was presented to him, either that or get as far away from it as possible. He repressed both with a shudder. _

"_Damon" he said, his voice making it perfectly plain what he thought about the sudden apparition of his older brother._

"_I see you decided to come back then," Damon said, moving away from the window and towards the beat up couch in the corner. _

"_As did you," Stephen replied coldly, wondering why his brother had to show up now, of all times. It was usually to cause some kind of trouble, whether his brother went, bad news followed. _

"_Ah, I just heard a few rumours as to why you might have come back," said Damon moving over the to the bookshelf where the portrait stood, "And I just had to see for myself"_

_Damon picked up the yellowing portrait that was sketched in charcoal and Stephen let out a hiss like a cat. _

"_Don't touch that," Stephen said _

_Damon laughed softly but put the portrait down anyway. _

"_So what did you think brother? Moving back and you'd get your second chance with Katherine?" he said mockingly, "She's not Katherine by the way"_

"_I know that," said Stephen sharply, unwillingly to be played the fool, "Katherine's buried" _

_Damon shrugged and turned away from the bookshelf and looked back at his brother. _

"_I met her today," said Damon, a sneer in every word he said, "Down by the bridge, out of breath from running from some imaginary beastie. She's really very pretty, took all my self-restraint not to just have a little taste…" _

_Stephen's hand clenched upon the book he was holding, his knuckles turning the colour of snow. He was, however, aware that Damon was only talking in the singular – perhaps he hadn't found out what Stephen had seen today? _

"_You won't touch her Damon," said Stephen roughly, wondering which of the Gilbert twins Damon had met today. _

"_Or what Stephen?" Damon asked, "We both know I'm stronger than you. You know, we could do it together! Can you imagine the taste and thrill of going to straight for Elena?"_

_This was too much for Stephen and we an animalistic growl from the depths of his throat he launched himself as his brother, meaning to smash that smooth face to oblivion. He was stunned when his hands met with simply air and it took all his effort not to overbalance and crash to the floor. _

"_Apparently I'm faster than you as well," said Damon's voice smoothly from beside the door, "Well we'll see anyway brother. You take care of yourself now" _

_And with that he was gone. Stephen knew he wouldn't have gone far, possibly only to his own room on the other side of the house. He just liked to play his tricks to leave Stephen as riled up and miserable as possible – well it was safe to say that he'd certainly achieved that. Now, on top of the mystery of what he'd seen today, he also didn't know which Gilbert girl Damon had had his encounter with. Whichever one it was, he didn't envy them. _

Autumn closed the door with a snap behind her and turned to take her shoes off.

"Hey Autumn," said Aunt Jenna from the lounge where she was watching the news, "Where have you been? Elena got back ages ago"

"Oh yeah, sorry, I went to the cemetery and walked the long back over Wickery Bridge" Autumn said with an apologetic shrug.

"You went via Wickery Bridge and the road?" Aunt Jenna repeated, her face going white.

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Autumn asked uneasily

"Oh Autumn! Have you not heard, there were two people attacked out there last night!" she said, her voice rising slightly.

"Attacked?" Autumn said blanching, "By what?"

"Animal attack" Jenna said gesturing towards the news that was showing the faces of two young people who were assumedly the victims.

"Are they okay?" Autumn asked moving into the lounge. Jenna shook her head, and made an unpleasant face.

"Oh," Autumn said and pulled a face that matched Jenna's, "Well it was daylight and stuff…"

"I'm pretty sure an animal isn't choosy when it comes to what time of day it is" Jenna said, "But anyway, let's not talk about it anymore. Just please, please don't go down there anymore until they've found and caught what's been doing it"

"Okay fine, but what about the party tomorrow?" Autumn said

"I doubt even the strongest animal in the world would target a party of over a hundred kids" said Aunt Jenna with a small smile, "Alright, well dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes, if you're heading upstairs would you mind telling Elena and Jeremy?"

"Yeah sure," Autumn said absently as she wandered up the stairs. She couldn't help but wonder about her experience in the cemetery today; she had felt so scared, it was as if her blood had turned to ice. But no animal could do that, right?

Her mind slid to the man she had met today and the fact that he had called her Katherine. Who was Katherine? She couldn't think of anyway called that who lived in Mystic Falls. Then again, she didn't know everyone who lived here so she was probably mistaken. Her mind drifted to what he had looked like; his angular face accentuated by his almost ebony hair, and the tight shirt that did almost nothing to hide the muscled body underneath. She giggled a little to herself, here she was thinking about how hot a stranger was, whilst she was supposed to be figuring out a mystery. Oh well, maybe the girls would know more about it later.

When they were just clearing away the dessert dishes about forty-five minutes later there came a clang of the doorbell and Autumn jumped up to let Caroline and Bonnie in.

"Hey Jenna!" said Caroline as she came bounding in with her usual bright smile. Bonnie followed behind her, a little more reserved.

"Hey girls, are you going upstairs?" Jenna asked

"Yeah," said Elena and then gestured to the dishes, "Is that okay?"

"Yeah it's fine, Jeremy can help me for once" Jenna said

Autumn heard a groan from the end of the table where my brother sat with his hood up.

"Alright, well thanks Aunt Jenna," she said and proceeded to shove Caroline up the stairs whilst Bonnie and Elena followed behind us.

They decided to go chill in Elena's room, considering that it would probably be infinitely tidier than Autumn's.

"Alright, Night of the Comet!" said Caroline excitedly, the minute the door had snapped shut behind them, "What's everyone wearing?"

"Oh Caroline," said Bonnie exasperatedly, "Why does it matter?"

"Because I want, most importantly, to make sure we're not wearing the same thing, and secondly that we're not going to clash" Caroline said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Alright, wouldn't this be more suited to something like the Founders Party?" Bonnie asked

"Well yeah, but we'll do it all again then!" Caroline said with a smile, "It's not going to take long, just humour me"

"Alright," Autumn said with a grin, "I'm going to wear the short red dress that I got about three weeks ago?"

"Oh yeah, I know that, teaming it with the boots right?" she said

"Right," Autumn said, "Gonna look particularly grungy"

"Not as grungy as Jeremy so that won't be an issue," said Elena from the end of the bed.

"True" Autumn said with a tinge of sadness in her voice at the thought of their brother, who was probably next-door by now, searching for his next hit.

Caroline could sense the conversation slipping off topic so she turned to Bonnie interrogate her about what she was wearing.

"A red dress, Autumn?" asked Elena whilst this was going on, "Isn't red a bit risqué?"

"Why?" Autumn asked, "It's just a summer dress, of sorts, there's nothing particularly risqué about it… and teamed with boots"

"I guess, for some reason I just pictured a ball gown," Elena said with a grin.

"Ha! That's more your area of expertise isn't it?" Autumn said, "Leave that for Miss. Mystic later in the year"

"Mmmm, are you going for that this year?" Elena asked, biting her lip.

"I figured," Autumn said with a shrug, "I mean mom did put both our names in"

"Oh yeah," Elena said with a shrug, "I meant nothing by it. Just wondering whether you were still intending to do it,"

"I don't see why not," Autumn said with a smile, and turned back to the others to save Bonnie from Caroline's questioning about what colour her toenails were going to be painted.

"I'll be right back," said Elena getting up and heading off in the direction of the bathroom.

"So, once she gets back I'll sort her out and then we can talk about dreamy Salvatore today at school," said Caroline with a grin, "Did you see the way he looked at me in history class?"

Autumn smiled at Caroline's enthusiasm, deciding not to mention the way he had looked at her, the horror in his hazel eyes. Caroline was like an over-excited puppy and she didn't want to be the one to kill the buzz.

"He is fairly gorgeous looking," said Bonnie with a smirk and then she shivered, "Hey Autumn, do you mind shutting the window, it's getting chilly in here"

She slid off the bed and headed to the window to close it, but just as her hand closed on the latch, a large black crow landed on the windowsill, causing her to let out a little shriek.

"What is it?" asked Caroline, assumedly looking over but seeing nothing because her back was blocking the view.

"Err, nothing, a bug landed on my hand," Autumn said still looking at the crow. She didn't know why she didn't tell Caroline, but something told her not to mention it. She could've sworn this was the same bird from earlier, and she couldn't believe that it was so close to her; normally a bird wouldn't dare get this close. It had its head tilted upward so that one beady eye was looking closely at her face and she couldn't help but stare back, captivated by its presence.

"What are you doing with that window?" asked Bonnie from the other side of the room, "Building it?"

"Sorry," Autumn said and made to shoo the crow away, but before she could do so it had flown off into the night, its inky black feathers swiftly becoming obscure in the darkness. She shut the window with a snap, closed the latch and turned back to the group just as Elena came back into the room.

"So, I'm quite excited about tomorrow," Autumn said, "Also, be nice to have a chance to get to know the new guy a bit better"

She smiled as the other three dissolved into chatter and she was able to slide back onto the bed, her time at the window drifting into obscurity at the back of their minds.


	4. A Power Within

**A/N - A couple of things; thank you very much to those people who have ****reviewed already, it is very much appreciated! **

**Also, this was the first chapter I wrote wholly in 3rd person. I'm not used to writing like this but I felt, and I hope you agree, that it worked better with the story and the changing perspectives within it. If you were feeling kind enough to do so, perhaps you guys could give me some feedback as to how the changing perspectives in this chapter were? Did they feel clunky, or did it seem to work that you weren't just experiencing Autumn's thoughts, but the thought's of some of the other characters as well? **

**Thanks for your help! **

**Hope you enjoy,**

**B**

**XO**

Chapter Four

Music filled the dark woods, emanating from a wooden gazebo at the centre of the clearing where the celebration was taking place. Cars were being left at the edge of the clearing near to the road, so people could make a quick exit if they needed to. Autumn parked up next to Bonnie's car and hopped out, making sure her dress didn't catch on the seat as she got out, last thing she needed was to flash everybody _before_ the drinking started. Elena got out the other side far more gracefully and scanned the clearing for their two best friends.

"Over there," said Elena pointing, to where she could see Caroline and Bonnie stood by one of the many punch bowls, assumedly both getting drinks. They both headed over to meet up with friends, grabbing drinks along the way from yet another bowl.

"Hey guys," said Caroline, her eyes sweeping over the gathering crowds. Caroline would make sure that everybody who was here was meant to be here, and there was nobody left looking uncertain or alone. She had social butterfly/socialite down to an art.

"Is the new guy here?" Autumn asked her, knowing that her friend would be aware either way.

"Not yet, but he will be," she said assuredly.

"How do you know?" asked Bonnie with a grin.

"Well one because Elena's here and did you see that look he gave her in private study today? And two because I invited him and nobody turns down a Caroline Forbes invite" she said.

"Did you really just refer to yourself in the third person?" asked Elena with a giggle.

Caroline shrugged, "He'll be here"

"Anyway, what do you mean, 'gave me a look'?" said Elena, "It was hardly a look, it was more like a glance!"

"Oh don't play it down!" Caroline said, "It lasted at least three seconds, that makes it 'a look'"

"Alright, alright," Elena said, "If you say so"

"I do say so, that boy is definitely interested," she said knowledgably.

"So it's gone from a look to interested in about three seconds flat?" asked Elena with a hint of exasperation in her voice.

"I don't know," said Caroline with a smile, "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

The whole group turned around at her words and looked in the direction of her gaze, to see that, the new boy, Stephen was picking his way through the crowd, clearly making a beeline for them. To look as if they weren't staring Autumn quickly engaged Bonnie in conversation about her Grams.

Sure enough about ten seconds later they were interrupted by a soft male voice from just behind them.

"Um hey," said Stephen, with his hands in his jeans pocket.

"Hi," said Caroline confidently, "Glad you came"

"Well thank you for inviting me, it was kind of you," he said without a falter. He was so formal at times; it would've sounded stilted out of anybody else's mouth, yet somehow it seemed totally genuine from him.

"Not a problem, have you got a drink?" asked Caroline, turning around to get him one. Autumn watched as her sister looked up at the relative stranger from underneath her lashes, Elena knew how to play it, even subconsciously. Caroline handed him his drink which he took with a note of thanks.

"Hey guys, do you wanna go see whether Matt and Tyler are here yet?" Caroline asked, speaking specifically to Autumn and Bonnie, who quickly accepted her request. Autumn didn't think her sister had even noticed the question because her and Stephen had already begun to have a conversation. The three girls quickly left the pair alone, sensing that they would prefer a chance to get to know each other little better than stolen glances across the library.

"It always makes me wonder," said Caroline, clearly on the edge of saying something she considered deep.

"What?" asked Autumn.

"What makes a guy pick Elena over you? Or you over Elena for that matter?" she asked

"Er, because we're not the same person?" asked Autumn with a giggle.

"Yeah, but Stephen didn't know that," she said pointedly, "I mean when they only have looks to go off, why do they not fall for both of you?"

Autumn shrugged, "I guess we just give off different signals, or something. We don't dress the same, we have different mannerisms, etc. Once you get past the obvious physical similarities well…"

"I guess," said Caroline, "I think you're both hot"

"Well thank you Caroline," Autumn said with a smirk, "You're not bad yourself"

"Okay, well before this turns into a girl-on-girl make out session," said Bonnie sarcastically, "Weren't we going to find Matt?"

"Oooh, nevermind Matt," said Caroline suddenly, looking over Autumn's shoulder, "Who is _that?_"

Autumn turned around to see who her friend was looking at, and spotted a convertible car pulling up into the car park, the driver pushing the button to put the top up. She couldn't see much except the dark head of the driver, bent over in his seat.

Then the person straightened up and Autumn let out a little gasp, it was the man from the bridge yesterday; what was he doing here? It seemed that every girl in the clearing had turned around to watch the newcomer as he got out of his car. Autumn noted that he was still wearing black, but this time it was button-up shirt as opposed to the t-shirt he'd had on yesterday. She shook herself slightly at the fact she had remembered this detail. The firelight from the bonfire was flickering on his angled face, only throwing that gorgeous bone structure into sharper relief.

The man's eyes scanned the clearing; clearly amused at the fact he was currently the centre of attention before his eyes lighted on Autumn, a smile half appearing on his face.

"Oh my god, he's looking at you!" said Caroline half under her breath.

"It's alright Caroline, don't lose your shit," said Autumn trying to tear her gaze away from the stranger, "I met him yesterday at Wickery Bridge"

"Who is he?" asked Caroline excitedly as the stranger started to move into the clearing, his confident step doing nothing to draw attention away from himself.

"I don't know," said Autumn, "We didn't get around to exchanging pleasantries"

She had noticed that the not-so stranger appeared to be making a steady beeline for the group when she felt a presence at her shoulder, she turned around and saw the Stephen had joined them, minus Elena.

"Where's Elena?" Bonnie asked

"She went to find her brother," said Stephen quickly before the stranger joined them.

"Hello Stephen," said the guy, making Caroline's jaw drop; apparently she couldn't quite handle the fact these two ridiculously attractive men knew each other. Wait, ridiculously attractive? Autumn gave herself a mental slap, she'd known one vaguely for a day and the other she'd met once in passing.

"Damon," said Stephen and instantly Autumn felt the tension between them, "Ladies, please allow me to introduce my brother, Damon Salvatore, he's visiting the town for a while,"

Caroline was the first to recover from this piece of news and quickly stuck her hand for Damon to take, "Well, welcome to the town, I'm Caroline"

"Enchanted," said Damon with a sparkle in his blue eyes. Autumn hadn't noticed they were blue up until now, but now she did she couldn't quite tear her own eyes away from them. She gave herself another mental slap; she had to stop being so weird.

"I'm Bonnie" said Bonnie with a little wave in his direction as he let go of Caroline's hand, leaving Autumn vaguely concerned that her friend might fall over without the support.

"And we've already met," said Damon turning to Autumn.

"Only very briefly," she said with a grin, "And I don't think I was in the best state ever"

"Wasn't overly bad from what I can remember," said Damon, causing Autumn to blush – was he flirting with her?

"Autumn mentioned you meant down by Wickery Bridge," said Caroline, "Taking in the scenery of the town?"

Damon appeared to ignore her question but his eyes flicked to his brother, "Autumn? That's a pretty name"

"Thank you," she said, unsure as to whether she was actually supposed to be answering this question due to the fact that Damon was still looking at Stephen, apparently they were having some kind of silent conversation, despite the obvious tension between them.

"Well I'm gonna cut out," said Bonnie, "Vicky's here and I wanted to catch up with her"

"Alright Bonnie, if you see Elena along the way, can you tell her that I want my jacket and she's got the car keys," Autumn said as her friend disappeared with a nod.

"You have a sister?" asked Damon smoothly, his voice sounding somewhat like melted chocolate.

"An identical twin," Autumn confirmed, "As well as a brother"

"Identical?" Damon asked, his eyes betraying a split-second moment of shock.

"Yeah," said Caroline butting in, "Just wait 'til you see – it's eerie!"

Damon smiled slightly, "How interesting, I can't wait to meet you both together. Excuse me, ladies, I must get a drink. Brother, do you want another?"

With that he walked away, his brother following behind him. Clearly this was a conversation that both of them viewed as important. Autumn watched them go, not at all disappointed with the view this provided, and feeling decidedly unashamed at her blatant staring.

"Well he's certainly very attractive," said Caroline looking after the pair, with a small smile on her lips.

"Yes," Autumn said with a smirk, "I agree"

"Their family must have just had a good set of genes," Caroline said, "Anyway, are we gonna find a good spot of the hill to watch the comet? It's supposed to be visible soon"

"Sure," said Autumn, "Let me just get another drink along the way,"

Caroline smiled and grabbed her hand, pulling away to the small hill in the clearing where people were beginning to sit down to watch the comet.

On the other side of the clearing, where the woods got thicker and so the pair were less likely to be heard, were standing Stephen and Damon.

'There's two of them?" asked Damon in shock, this was one of the few times he had actually lost his composure somewhat.

"Yes," said Stephen somewhat amused by the confusion on his elder brother's face.

"And you just failed to mention this when I said I'd met Elena yesterday?" asked Damon, "When I clearly didn't, I met Autumn"

"Well, I didn't know which one of them you'd met," said Stephen with a shrug, "And anyway, I thought it might be amusing for you to find out for yourself,"

"Clearly, little brother," said Damon, his eyes flashing, "Well that is interesting. Two Katherine-lookalikes in one town"

"And from what I've apparently seen, neither of them anything like the original," said Stephen. "I can't speak for Autumn wholly on this but-

"-But Elena?" asked Damon with a grin, "You seem to have been drawn to that one,"

"What can I say?" asked Stephen, unwilling to defend himself to his brother.

"Oh nothing," said Damon, "But you know what two means? Double the fun!"

"You won't hurt either of them," said Stephen, his face darkening at the implied threat.

"Oh relax baby bro," said Damon, "I find them interesting, that is all, if I wanted to kill either of them, trust me they'd know about it."

Stephen bristled slightly, but realised that he was unlikely to get anything more civilized out of his brother and let it go.

"Now if you excuse me, I have some hunting to do," said Damon with a waggle of his fingers at his brother causing Stephen's eyes widened in horror at the thought.

"Oh wait, sorry, was that a bad choice of words?" asked Damon with a smirk, "I meant investigating,"

Stephen could have punched his brother at that moment, but knew it would only serve to draw attention to them. It irked him so much that his brother had the ability to play with him, as a cat plays with a mouse. He watched cautiously as his brother walked away towards the firelight of the clearing, assumedly to do his 'investigating'. He didn't trust Damon further than he could throw him, and yet for some reason he couldn't help but constantly give him the benefit of the doubt – he was his brother after all.

"Hey," said a female voice from beside him, breaking him out of his reverie to see Elena stood there, her jacket drawn across her shoulders against the chill, "Do you wanna go find Bonnie and Jeremy on the hill to watch the comet?"

"Sure thing," said Stephen taking one last look to see where Damon had gone, but could no longer pick him out, "You lead the way"

Elsewhere, Caroline and Autumn had found a prime spot to watch the comet and had both drawn a patch of grass to sit upon.

"Do you mind if I join you?" came a smooth voice from behind them, Autumn twisted around to see Damon stood there, a bottle of beer in his hands – he didn't really strike her as a beer kind of guy, but she guessed it did in a pinch.

"Not at all!" said Caroline, slightly too enthusiastically, "Make yourself comfortable,"

Damon smiled at her and sat down beside Autumn, accidently brushing her with his arm as he did so, her skin feeling the soft material of his shirt.

"So what's so special about this comet anyway?" he asked, taking a sip of his beer, his eyes finding the faces of the two girls in turn.

"Well it only passes over once every hundred and forty years or something," said Caroline, "So it's a once-in-a-lifetime kinda thing"

"Uh-huh" said Damon, looking across at Autumn, who shrugged.

"Bonnie, that's our other friend, says it's almost magical because it's a huge celestial event" the brunette said, nonchalantly.

"Bonnie likes to think she's a witch," said Caroline with a giggle at the absurd notion. Damon didn't say anything to this; he just raised his eyebrows and shrugged.

"Well more psychic than a witch," said Autumn attempting to defend their friend; she didn't want Damon to get the wrong impression for some reason.

"Hey look!" said Caroline pointing upwards, to where a huge ball of light was just clearing the edge of the trees. It was moving fairly quickly, but slow enough that it would probably take about two minutes to fully travel overhead. There was a collective murmur of excitement from the crowd as everyone spotted it and gave it their full attention.

"So beautiful," whispered Autumn gazing upwards, her white neck exposed as she tilted her head backwards to look up at the night sky. She couldn't help but marvel at the wonderous and yet intensely lonely beauty of the comet, trapped in its cycle, doomed to continue its path until it burnt out in an explosion of heat and light.

As she watched she thought she felt a tingling sensation in her fingers, almost like pins and needles, traveling up her wrists and her arms. It felt most odd and she shook one of them to shake the feeling off, but the sensation continued, along with a passing feeling of heat. It was as if she was tingling with heat from the inside, it was uncomfortable and she wiggled where she sat despite herself, not understanding the sensation.

"Are you alright?" asked Caroline, noticing her friend's discomfort.

"I'm okay," said Autumn and then got to her feet, "I'm just going to go for a walk over that way,"

"Do you want me to come with you?" asked Caroline, but Autumn shook her head.

"No, I'll be okay," she repeated, before walking quickly off in the other direction, trying to contain the feeling of utter sickness within her body. She had hardly had anything to drink, so it couldn't be that, and she hadn't let the drink out of her sight, so she doubt anybody could've drugged her. She walked past the cars and towards the woods on the other side of the clearing, hoping the solitude would help her slightly.

She shook her hands as she leaned against a tree, the world spinning around her making her clutch her head in distress, a tear rolling down her face at the horrible sensation she was experiencing. Her body felt hot and cold at the same time, her skin felt tight against her bones and yet she felt detached from herself, almost outside of herself. She could smell the leaves around her and yet the very smell was making her feel even sicker. She glanced skyward to see the comet complete its journey over the clearing, the light providing a fixation point but also making her head pound. She felt as if electricity were flowing down every vein in her body, providing an intense amount of life and power, but also a feeling close to death – if she could possibly know what that felt like. She whimpered a little as the sensation didn't pass.

"Hey, are you alright?" came a smooth male voice from just behind her, she turned around to see the dark figure of Damon amongst the trees, his black silhouette making him difficult to totally depict.

"No" she said truthfully, feeling the very ground underneath her feet shake, she took a step towards him, hoping he could anchor her but her vision faded to black from the bottom of her eyes upwards and she pitched forward. She was vaguely aware of an exclamation of reactive shock before arms prevented her from hitting the floor, then all was still.


	5. Peering Through The Keyhole

Chapter Five

Jenna was sitting on the sofa in the lounge, watching the news as it reported another animal attack in the woods close to the town; this time it was a hiker who'd been walking alone. She couldn't help but be a little nervous about the party that was occurring out there tonight. As she had said to Autumn yesterday, she doubted that an animal would be bold enough to attack a large group, but at the same time whatever this was didn't seem to be overly bothered by attacking people in pairs, as had been proved by the two people who'd run out of gas the other night.

She heard the sound of a car pulling up on the driveway outside the house. She glanced at the clock; it was only eleven, why were they back so early? The doorbell rang unnecessarily and she got to her feet to let them in, gasping in horror at what she saw.

Caroline was hurrying away from the door to help a man who Jenna didn't recognise, in his arms was the unconscious body of Autumn, her long brown hair falling over his arm.

"What happened?" she asked urgently as they approached the door, and then addressed the man, "Come in, and take her upstairs? Second door on the left"

The man nodded, his dark head bent, and entered the house before heading upstairs, carrying Autumn with apparent ease.

"We don't know!" said Caroline answering Jenna's question, "She had a bit of turn whilst watching the comet and she went off to get a bit of privacy, Damon found her just as she collapsed and then we just brought her straight back here"

"Alright, well you go upstairs and stay with her, I'll call the doctor out," said Jenna hurriedly. Caroline nodded, her eyes slightly wide with panic.

"Oh Caroline!" said Jenna as the girl started up the stairs, "Where's Elena and Jeremy?"

"I called them as we were on the way home, they're following" said Caroline before continuing on her way upstairs.

Jenna nodded after her, even though she couldn't see it, before turning to the phone to call the doctor out – her hands shaking very slightly. The front door opened when she was halfway through the conversation as Elena, Jeremy and Bonnie piled in. Jenna hung up the phone after the doctor confirmed she'd be there as soon as possible.

"Stephen," she heard Elena say, "Don't wait outside, come on in!"

Jenna shook her head slightly; who were all these new people?

She decided to ignore this issue for a moment and simply hurried upstairs to check on Autumn herself as the house descended into noisy chaos, each person in it trying to piece together what was going on.

She clattered up the stairs, nearly colliding with Caroline who was on her way down to inform Elena and Jeremy as to what was going on.

As she entered the bedroom, she saw the man, Damon, who had brought Autumn back standing near the window, looking fairly awkward – as if he didn't know whether to stay or go.

"You can stay if you want," said Jenna, answering his unasked question in an attempt to put him at his ease. He smiled in her direction as a note of thanks.

Jenna turned to the bed where Autumn was lying on her side; they'd clearly put her like that in case she wanted to be sick. She hurried over and felt her forehead – she was burningly hot, and yet her face looked peaceful and untroubled.

"How did you find her?" asked Jenna turning to Damon

"She was in the woods, wandering, I asked her whether she was okay, she said 'no' and then fell forward" he said, "I brought her straight back to the car and got Caroline"

"Oh okay, well thank you for –

"-JENNA!" came Jeremy's voice up the stairs, "Dr. Fell's here!"

Jenna hurried to the door and yelled out, "Alright, show her up!"

The next minute, the doctor, Meredith Fell, came into the bedroom, followed by Elena and Caroline.

"Alright," she said, immediately taking control of the room, "Can I examine her in private please, if I need any help I'll call"

Jenna faltered for a moment, "Can I stay?"

"If you just wait in the hallway," said Dr. Fell firmly but kindly. Jenna nodded and herded the rest of them out into the corridor.

"Alright, well I think I should go," said Damon, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans.

"Oh don't go," said Jenna quickly, "I think we're all going to need a night cap after this is all sorted"

"Well only if you're sure," said Damon

"It'll be fine," said Jenna with a quick smile, slightly taken aback by the intensity of the man's eyes.

"I'll go start sorting it," said Caroline, flitting off down the stairs. Jenna could hear her talking to Bonnie and Stephen downstairs.

"I'll wait downstairs too," said Damon, following swiftly after Caroline leaving just Jenna, Elena and Jeremy in the hallway.

"I don't understand," said Elena, "She was fine when we left her, and she was with her drink all night so it can't be anything like that…"

"Caroline said she was fine, literally until the comet passed over," said Jeremy

"Yeah, but that can't have done anything!" said Elena, "Our health doesn't get affected by big hunks of rock in the sky"

Jeremy just shrugged and nodded, "I know, I was just saying…"

"Well we'll just wait and see what the doctor has to say," said Jenna, knotting her fingers together.

A few moments later the door opened and Dr. Fell emerged.

"Well?" asked Jenna immediately

"Physically she seems okay, her temperature is running quite high however, so that needs monitoring," said Dr. Fell in a business-like manner, "Other than that I could find nothing physical, her resting heart rate appears to be normal, she's got no signs of any blood problems, no nose or eye bleeds are apparent, her stomach is fine, so that rules out most internal difficulties. The only thing I can really think of as a possibility is food poisoning, but seeing as all of you are fine…"

"Yeah and I don't think she's eaten anything that at least one or more of us hasn't over the past couple of days," said Jenna trying to remember.

"The only other thing I could find were two large bruises on her back, with scratches in the middle," said Dr. Fell with a querying look on her face, "Any idea what might have caused them?"

All of them shook their heads; Autumn hadn't mentioned falling or hurting herself recently.

"No idea," said Jenna, "But what now?"

"Well right now she's sleeping," said Dr. Fell, "She might wake soon, or it might a be a couple of hours; just make sure she's kept comfortable and keep an eye on that temperature. If she develops any further symptoms, or remembers anything about what might have caused this, please contact me immediately"

Jenna nodded, "Jeremy would you show the doctor out please?"

The doctor followed after Jeremy to be shown out of the house.

"It's so weird," said Elena as she and Jenna moved to go down the stairs after them.

"Is she gonna be okay?" asked Caroline, worried, as they entered the lounge.

"The doctor seems to think she's going to be fine; she doesn't know what caused it just by examining her, but has told us just to keep an eye on her," said Jenna

Caroline nodded, seemingly assured by this news and then said, "I've just made some tea, and there's some whiskey stood by the side of it if anybody wants a bit"

"Thanks Caroline," said Jenna heading over, "Now – who wants what?"

* * *

Damon stood with a cup of tea, laced with whiskey, in his hand, watching the scene of domesticity unfold in front of him. It almost made him smile; he hadn't seen anything like this for quite a long time and he felt a dull ache at the memory of something lost.

He hadn't said much throughout the evening, only deflecting notes of thanks that kept coming his way. He was, however, interested to find out more about what had happened tonight. He had been with Autumn for quite a large proportion of the night and she had been perfectly alright up until the exact moment the comet had passed overhead. Celestial events of that magnitude were rare, but Damon knew enough about them to know that they could affect supernatural events.

His mind had been toying with the idea all night; was there more to the girl upstairs than met the eye? If there was he couldn't fathom it out, and she apparently didn't know anything about it either. He hadn't noticed anything extra special about her, other than the fact that she and her sister were identical down to the last eyelash. Identical, and yet oh so different. He watched as Elena spoke to Stephen in the corner, her movements spoke of someone soft, caring and quiet, and yet passionate in defence of those she cared about. Autumn was different, he could sense something in her, an intensity or a yearning that he didn't feel in her sister. Stephen always had preferred the more demure ones, those with spirit but who held it beneath a polished surface. He, on the other hand, preferred a more rough and ready style, not uncouth by any means, but someone whose soul was so alive that it almost burned through to the surface.

He heard the creak of the floorboards above their heads before the voice came shakily down the stairs.

"Hello?"

There was a shared glance between the family gathered there and Bonnie, Elena and Caroline reached an unspoken agreement that they would go up to help Autumn.

"Alright, well that'll be our queue to leave," said Stephen with a glance at Damon who nodded in agreement.

"Well thank you both very much for your help tonight," said Jenna with a smile as they walked towards the door.

"Can you tell them I said goodbye?" said Stephen, "And that'll see them at school tomorrow"

"Give Autumn our best," said Damon with a small smile.

"Will do" said Jenna, "Goodnight guys"

With that they walked outside and Jenna shut the door behind them. They reached the bottom of the drive and Damon turned to Stephen.

"I'm gonna stay for a bit," he said quickly so that it would sound like a murmur to anything except supernatural ears.

"Why?" asked Stephen with a look of concern on his face.

"There's something going on beyond what any doctor can tell them," said Damon, "I don't know what it is but I just know it"

Stephen looked into his brother's eyes trying to find some notion of deceit in them, but he couldn't, all he saw was a genuine interest and confusion.

"Alright, but we'll discuss it later," said Stephen.

Damon almost rolled his eyes at his younger brother; he didn't have to explain anything to him, but somehow Stephen seemed to think he owed him something. To avoid an argument, he shrugged, and in the flash of an eye was gone.

Now it was Stephen's turn to roll his eyes; his brother always had a taste for the dramatics and the single crow's feather that landed at his feet told him that this time was no different. He looked towards the house and saw a large black bird, sitting on the windowsill of an upstairs room. He shook his head slightly, wondering what trail his brother was onto but then decided he would interrogate him later.

* * *

Bonnie sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for Elena and Caroline to come back. They had mutually decided to all stay here tonight and those two had gone off to organize sleeping arrangements and food. It was really late but midnight snacks were always a good idea.

Autumn was drifting in and out of sleep, her temperature still high. Elena had mentioned about the bruises that Dr. Fell had seen on her back and Bonnie wondered vaguely as to where they had come from. As she wondered Autumn stirred and smiled as she saw her friend sitting there.

"You know I don't need watching over," Autumn said, "I just had a bit of a funny turn"

"A bit?" asked Bonnie with a chuckle, "You made us all freak out tonight"

"Sorry," said Autumn, looking a little forlorn at the thought.

"It's fine, come on, give me a hug," said Bonnie, making Autumn smile as she sat up in bed, reaching for her friend.

Then Bonnie felt something like she'd never felt before in her life, the second her and Autumn touched it was if a massive electrical current had poured out of the girl in the bed and into her body, making her heart pound at what felt like a million beats a second. The sensation itself didn't hurt, but the impact when she hit the floor near the door, having been thrown backwards in some way, certainly did, and she let out an exclamation of shock.

"Bonnie?!" came Autumn's voice, as she swung her legs out of bed and stood up, her head spinning slightly as she did so.

"I'm alright," said Bonnie getting to her feet, her legs shaking slightly as she did so, looking closely at her friend.

"What the hell was that?" asked Autumn, sitting heavily down on the bed as her legs gave way, partially from shock, partially from exhaustion.

"I have no idea," said Bonnie, "It was if you'd shocked me; did you feel anything?"

"No" said Autumn vehemently, "I was just hugging you and then all of sudden you were on the floor over there. What on earth could've caused that?"

Before Bonnie could answer the door slammed open and Caroline walked in, dragging a mattress behind her.

"What's up?" she asked, taking in the shocked faces in the room and also Autumn's changed position.

Bonnie shook her head slightly at Autumn, denoting that it would be silly to try and explain it to someone when they couldn't even figure it out themselves.

"Nothing," said Bonnie with a smile, "We're fine"

Caroline raised her eyebrows as if she didn't believe them, but decided to let it go, "Alright, well Elena's just gone to get the other mattress – she should be back in a minute"

Autumn nodded and moved to get back into bed as the others busied around the room, getting the arrangements all set up so they could be comfortable for the night. If any of them had cared to look, they would have seen a large black crow on the windowsill turning to fly off into the darkness of the night.


	6. The Unbearable Lightness of Being

**A/N - Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! It would be nice to get a few more, I will reply personally to all of them (unless you leave it as "Guest" (not entirely sure how to reply to those yet!)). Whilst this is fun to write, I really would appreciate feedback. Thanks so much for reading!**

**XO**

Chapter Six

Autumn blinked in the mid-afternoon sunshine as she stepped out from the artificially lit school hallway, amidst the whole group of her friends. This was her first day back at school since the night of the comet, Jenna having insisted that she took a couple of days off even though she felt perfectly fine. Her aunt apparently wouldn't accept that someone could collapse one day and then be perfectly okay the next, no matter how many times she had tried to tell her so.

It was the end of the school day, the last bell having just rung, and she had nothing to do; Bonnie, Caroline and Elena all had cheerleading practice, and Elena was currently trying to convince Stephen to ask Mr. Tanner for a tryout for the football team. Autumn smiled at his protests that seemed to be falling on her sister's deaf ears. Apparently he didn't think football was exactly appropriate for the new boy to be playing but she wasn't having any of it. Apparently she had seen him catch a ball Tyler Lockwood had thrown at him in some kind of twisted hazing episode earlier and somehow his reflexes were beyond measure.

"What are you going to do?" asked Elena, turning away from the boy, as the group reached the edge of the football pitch.

"Figured I'd head to the park or the grill, I don't wanna go home just yet," said Autumn with a shrug, "I'll pick you up after practice?"

"Yeah, sure, meet me back here?" she asked, "We're giving Caroline a ride too"

Autumn nodded in agreement and watched as the other girls headed off to the side of the pitch to set up cheerleading practice, Caroline carrying a boom box on her shoulder. Autumn turned away and headed towards the school gates; cheerleading wasn't exactly her thing, she'd never joined the team, even when her mom had said that it would look good on her college transcript. She had joined the school committee as a peace offering, agreeing that she would help out with event organisation and such like.

Talking of that, Halloween was coming up soon and she had a committee meeting with Caroline later this week to discuss the Fright Night that was planned. Caroline had some interesting ideas, but some of them seemed a bit extravagant; Autumn was unsure as to how far the school budget would stretch.

When she arrived the park was fairly busy; younger children who had just come out of school heading for the climbing equipment in the corner, adults trailing after them to make sure they were safe, or that someone for a hug was there when knees got scraped, or toes got tripped over. There was the odd picnic happening in various places, and an older gentleman feeding ducks by the pond. Autumn chose a secluded spot on a small hill away from the children's play park. She felt like after an entire day at school she needed a little bit of relative piece and quiet.

She sat down upon the grass, moving her school bag to the side of her before rifling in it. Upon finding what she was looking for she pulled out a copy of _The Unbearable Lightness of Being_ by Milan Kundera, rolled over onto her front, found her marked page and began to read. She lost herself in the story of post-war Czechslovakia for a while, feeling little sympathy with the protagonist as he whined about the women he was sleeping with, trying to decide whether he was in love with them, and whether sex could be meaningful without love.

She only looked up when a shadow fell over the sunlight. Damon was stood in front on her, a smile playing on his features; she sat up quickly and smiled back.

"Good book?" he asked

"Yeah," she said, showing him the cover page, "Ever read it?"

"Yeah, a long time ago," he said with a shrug, "D'you mind if I…?"

"Oh, not at all!" said Autumn motioning to the grass, "In town for anything special?"

"Not especially, just finding out a few things," he said with a shrug, "Why are you not with the others?"

"They're at cheerleading practice," she said, "And I believe your brother is currently trying to get on the football team"

"Really?" asked Damon surprised, "Think he must be a little rusty at that, he hasn't played in a while"

"It can't be that long?" said Autumn with a smile, Damon shrugged again with a small smirk, the corner of his upper lip turning up slightly.

"You not the cheerleading type?" Damon asked

"Not exactly, not opposed to it, just not entirely my thing," Autumn said, "Elena's more then 'cheering' sort"

"I figured," he said, "You strike me as more the art club girl,"

"Well don't you have it all figured out?" said Autumn with a grin, "But now that you mention it…"

Damon chuckled a little, his smile reaching his blue eyes causing them to soften in his flash of enjoyment before he spoke again, "So is everything okay after the other night?"

Autumn blushed crimson at the memory and dipped her head so he hopefully wouldn't see, "Ah that was so embarrassing,"

"It's alright, it's not every day I get to save damsels in distress," he said firmly tongue in cheek.

"Yeah, but the fact you had to anyway…" Autumn said looking up at his face. His blue eyes seemed to sparkle somewhat in the sunlight and she couldn't help but look at them; he didn't seem to find this awkward, to the contrary he appeared to like it.

"Did they ever figure what was wrong?" Damon asked

"No, the only thing being that the bruises haven't faded," said Autumn, "No idea where those came from; you can't just get bruises from thin air though right?"

"Stress can sometimes cause them?" suggested Damon.

"I guess," said Autumn, "They're not hurting though. Anyway, enough about the embarrassing experience – how long are you staying in Mystic Falls?"

"I don't know," he said, "I've got a few things I want to do here, Mystic Falls is my home so it's nice to be back,"

"Why did you leave?" asked Autumn, pushing her hair back from her face.

"Various reasons, mainly because of college" he said, "That and after a while you feel like you need to get out and see the world"

"And have you?" Autumn asked

"Oh some of it," he replied, "But there's always more to visit or to see"

"Deep," she said with a grin, "I'd like to travel, but I've never really had the chance. Furthest I've ever gone is Richmond."

"Oh well, I'm sure you'll get the chance later, you're only young" he said

"So are you!" Autumn said with a grin, "And you've had more opportunity than me!"

"Older than you," Damon said with a shrug, "Therefore I get to be the fount of all wisdom"

"Oh really?" she asked, "Pulling the age card?"

"Of course," he said, "You'll do it soon enough – almost guarantee it"

"Ha, I guess so," she said and then jumped as her phone started to ring, "Oh crap! I forgot about Elena!"

Damon laughed as she stood up quickly and answered her phone in the same moment.

"Yeah?" Autumn said, "Yeah, I know, I'm in the park – I'm just coming! Alright, alright; I'll be there in a second"

She hung up the phone and put it in her pocket before turning to Damon, "Alright, I'm sorry, I've got to go"

"It's fine; wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of Elena," he said with a grin.

"Or Caroline, I'm giving her a lift too," said Autumn.

"Ooh, scary thought!" he said getting to his feet, "Alright, well tell Stephen I'll see him at home, if he's still with them"

"Alright, well hopefully see you around Damon," said Autumn with a smile and small wave before turning around and jogging off towards the park gates. She thought he watched her go for a moment but when she turned around he was gone. She couldn't see him walking away and figured he must have moved out of sight somewhere.

Upon reaching the school she was immediately pounced upon by Elena and Caroline.

"Guys, I was like ten minutes late. I was just in the park," Autumn said, rummaging in her pocket for the car keys.

"What were you doing?" asked Caroline.

Autumn shrugged, "Just reading and talking"

"To who?" asked Elena

"God, what is this? Freaking twenty questions?" Autumn said as they walked towards the car, "How was practice?"

"Fine, except Elena forgot 60% of the moves since we did it last week," said Caroline bitchily.

"Did not!" said Elena, "And anyway, I've had a lot of my mind this week – it's been fairly hectic,"

"Whatever," said Caroline getting in the backseat of the car, as the twins got in the front.

"Wow, what got her in such a foul mood?" Autumn asked as they started the drive away from school.

"Tyler didn't wait for her after he'd finished practice like he said he would," said Elena with a shrug.

Autumn rolled her eyes and looked in the rearview mirror at her friend, "Tyler Lockwood, really?"

Caroline didn't reply for a moment, "What? He's attractive!"

"Yeah, and he's dating Vicky Donavon," said Elena

"Pfft," said Caroline, "They're not dating, they're just hooking up – in the same way Vicky's hooking up with your brother"

"Yeah well I don't think that's going to end well," said Autumn as she turned the car into Caroline's street, "I would stay well away from Tyler though"

"Whatever," said Caroline, "Wait to see what I'm wearing for Halloween, no man, Tyler or not, will be able to resist me"

"Should we be worried?" asked Elena with a grin.

"Not at all, well maybe about your boyfriend!" said Caroline with a giggle.

Autumn rolled her eyes again as Caroline got out, only when the car door had slammed shut did she turn to her sister.

"Boyfriend?" she asked, "Is she talking about Stephan?"

"I guess she is," said Elena, "But it's Caroline, she's talking crap. We just like hanging out together is all,"

"I don't mind!" said Autumn registering the guilty look on her sister's face, "You two seem to get on well, it's just you've known each other about a fortnight"

"Well, we're not dating _yet_," said Elena

"Yet?" said Autumn with a grin, "On that note, what are you planning for Halloween?"

"Well obviously the school do…" said Elena, "As for costume – I have no idea yet. Wanna plan something together?"

"Of course!" said Autumn, "And I'm pretty sure that Caroline will want to make sure we're not stealing her thunder"

"Probably," said Elena as they turned into their road, Autumn smiled and parked up in the driveway, her mind thinking up Halloween costumes and ideas for the dance.

* * *

Darkness had fallen a few hours ago and the sky was clear so the crescent moon was just visible through the trees. Damon had watched it rise from his solitary position by the falls, waiting for cover of darkness to do what he must; feeling it somehow leant to the ease and to the dramatics of the situation.

He got slowly to his feet, looking across the water and attempting to ignore the feeling of gnawing hunger; of it coursing through his veins, pulsating into every atom of his being. He liked it when he let it in, but for a time every day he liked to push it back and feel comparatively normal. He vaguely wondered who would be about tonight. And what they would taste like.

The forest blurred past as he let his senses take over, there was no right way to find what he was looking for, it was more like every instinct in his body was leading him the right direction, with no conscious thought involved. He grinned to himself when he heard movement coming from somewhere to his left and headed towards it.

The scene he came across was something akin to a buffet. There was a group of people, clearly stoned, lying on the floor around a badly built fire. He grinned to himself, this was going to be even easier than usual. He let it in. He felt his fangs elongate from his gums, felt every sense his body scream for the kill, and he let it take over.

There was something so wonderful about the feed, the softness of a breathing body in his arms as his vampiric side completely took over, his fangs sinking into warm flesh and then taste of immortal life passing over his lips. There was little struggle from these ones as they were too far gone on the drink and the pills, but the look as their eyes glazed over was one he would remember forever. And not in a good way. He remembered each and every single one of them, everyone he had ever killed either by accident or on purpose. Every night before sleep took him, he saw them all on the edges of the darkness. That was the price he had to pay.

The third one there was a pretty brunette, so far gone on the pills that her eyes didn't even focus on his face before he leaned in to get what he needed. Her hands even went around his neck, as they might a lover, pulling him in closer. A dance with death.

The girl let out a small sigh as she lost consciousness, a far cry from the screams that some of them decided were going to be accompanying their ends.

He let the girl go and she thudded to the ground, he stood up and surveyed the scene of carnage. He vaguely wondered what sort of animal attack they would dream up this time, he slung his jacket over his shoulder and walked away, leaving the mess behind for someone else to clean up.


	7. Over To Dinner

Chapter Seven

When Stephen walked into the library he was met by an interesting sight; Damon, glass of whisky in one hand, a book in the other. His brother's brow was furrowed as he concentrated on the text in front of him. It wasn't exactly unusual to see Damon reading, he read quite a bit, but the look of rapt attention was something not often seen.

"What are you reading?" asked Stephen as he moved further into the library. He received no response from his elder brother so he moved around himself to the read the front cover.

"Really?" he asked, "I swear you've read that before?"

"I have" said Damon, not moving his eyes from the page, "A friend reminded me how good it was though"

"A friend?" asked Stephen, "You've actually made a friend?"

"Yup, sister to your little girlfriend," said Damon eventually looking up at his brother.

"Autumn?" asked Stephen surprised, "Since when?"

"Since the night of the comet," said Damon, "She interests me and there's something about her that I can't put my finger on – I like that"

"So basically she's a fascination for you?" asked Stephen with something close to a sigh.

"For now," said Damon, "I'd forgotten this book was so philosophical; the part about eternal return especially gets me. So what do you think Stephen, if your life is repeated over and over, is it meaningless?"

Stephen shook his head slightly, "Read, if you live forever?"

"Quite," said Damon and then smiled slightly, "Couldn't help but find it slightly ironic that Autumn was reading it"

"When did you meet her?" asked Stephen, dumping his school satchel on the floor next to the sofa.

"In the park yesterday," said Damon, "Whilst you were trying out for football"

"Are you seeking her out?" asked Stephen sitting down on the couch opposite his brother.

"And what if I am?" asked Damon, "As I just said, she interests me; I'm not going to hurt her,"

"Well just make sure you don't," said Stephen quietly.

"Or what, little brother?" asked Damon sticking his bottom lip out in a mock pout, "You'll brood at me?"

Stephen didn't rise to the bait, "No, I won't. But I will see you live to regret it. The Gilbert's have strong family ties, I will see you pay for it if you do"

Damon couldn't quite decide whether he was being serious or not, "Whatever, relax. I won't touch her,"

Stephen didn't say anything in return, he just shrugged his shoulders, "Talking of Gilbert family ties, for some reason, we have been invited to dinner tomorrow night"

"We?" asked Damon, surprised momentarily, "Oh okay,"

"Yeah apparently Jenna's planning a dinner with a few of friends of Elena, Autumn and Jeremy and apparently we fall into that remit"

Damon raised his eyebrows at his brother, "Okay, not complaining, just seems a little odd. Nice, but odd. People are very… _accommodating_ in this town,"

Stephen once again ignored the jib, he knew that Damon had been responsible for the attacks on various people since he had arrived in the town. Part of him wanted to kill him for that, the other half restrained itself because of the brotherly bond they shared. As much as Damon pissed him off, there was something undeniable about family.

"Whilst your indiscretions haven't yet come back to bite us," said Stephen, "You will not bring them up to me again"

"Why are you being so damn overbearing today?" asked Damon, "Scared?"

"Well I don't know about you," said Stephen, "But I actually quite like it here; it's my home. I'd like to be able to stay for while, but if you keep killing everybody in sight then I won't get a chance"

"That's a little bit of an over-exaggeration," said Damon, "I don't kill _everyone_ in sight"

Stephen rolled his eyes, "Whatever, just tomorrow be on best behaviour"

"I will, don't worry," said Damon holding his hands up, his thumb keeping the page in the book, "Are we done with our little bonding session now?"

Stephen didn't answer him, just got up and headed off upstairs, leaving Damon to his book.

* * *

Autumn had the job of helping Jenna lay the table the following evening, Jeremy and Elena somehow having wiggled out of it. Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but seeing as there were about 80 people coming to dinner this proved to be something of an issue. Okay maybe not 80, but there was Damon, Stephen, Jenna, herself, Elena, Jeremy, Bonnie and Caroline – that was at least four extra places to lay.

She was secretly glad that Damon was coming, even if the invitation was a little out of the blue; she had enjoyed talking to him in the park yesterday and the memory of those blue eyes made her smile. She knew it was utterly stupid, she'd known him for all of a week and yet somehow she just wanted to spend more time with him. Something about him intrigued her.

"Is that alright, Jenna?" she asked after she had finished, "Do you need anything else?"

"No that's fine, I've got mushroom soup on the hob, the beef's in the oven… should be good to go!" said Jenna with a bright smile on her face, "Are you going to go get ready?"

"Why? Do you think I need to?" asked Autumn slightly sarcastically

"Not at all, you look beautiful just the way you are," said Jenna sweetly, "I just know that Elena was worrying about looking good for Stephen – what's going on between them by the way?"

Autumn chuckled to herself, "They're 'seeing each other', her words not mine"

Jenna laughed a little, "Well that's the way the epic love stories usually start – not"

Autumn shrugged, "I'll be down in a bit then, what time are they all coming by again?"

"Supposedly half seven," said Jenna, "But you know Caroline, she's usually early"

Autumn grinned before turning around and heading upstairs, vaguely wondering that if Elena was making an effort, whether she should to. She looked at herself in her bedroom and decided that she wasn't going to bother; she looked fine. This was dinner, not a formal.

She heard the doorbell ring about ten minutes later and grinned when she heard Caroline announce to Jenna that she had bought n bottles of wine and hoped that they would be allowed to share them out. Autumn almost heard Jenna think about it for approximately ten seconds before agreeing. Everyone at the table would be over sixteen and as long as they didn't have too much, she couldn't see the problem with it.

Autumn decided that now would be as good a time as ever to go down and wait for the rest of them.

"Hey Autumn!" said Caroline, "I love that top – have I seen it before?"

"I think so," said Autumn, looking down at the white lace top she'd paired with her pale blue skinnies.

"No effort, eh?" asked Jenna coming into the lounge and laying some nibbles on the table for people when they arrived.

"Well I thought I might at least change," said Autumn with the slightest hint of a blush.

"Oooh effort?" said Caroline, "Who for? Not for me, clearly, unless you've got something to tell me Autumn,"

"Not for anyone really," said Autumn with a shrug.

"Sure it's not your knight in shining armour?" asked Jenna, just as the doorbell rang again.

Autumn didn't reply just shrugged before calling after her aunt, "What's wrong with wanting to look nice?"

Obviously there was no reply as she heard male voices joining her aunt's in the hallway. They were joined in the lounge by Jenna, Stephen, and Damon a few moments later.

"Hi guys," said Caroline, "Nice to see you here"

"Nice of us to be invited," said Stephen with a nod in Autumn's direction.

"Well you're the new guys in town," said Autumn, "It's only fair, right?"

"Something like that," said Damon as Jenna went to the bottom of the stairs to holler at the others that our guests were here.

Bonnie appeared a few moments later, having let herself in, "Sorry I'm late,"

"You're not late," said Autumn going over to hug her, "Nice to see you – didn't see you in school today?"

"Oh yeah, grams kept me out today – she just wanted to spend the day with me," said Bonnie with a small smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Oh okay?" said Autumn, knowing there was more to that story. Elena and Jeremy joined them and they moved through to where the dining table was. Elena had done her hair so it was twisted up off her neck, showing off the white length of skin contrasting against her brunette hair. She looked really nice and Stephen definitely seemed to have noticed as he sat down on her right, his eyes sweeping over her face.

"So is it nice to be back in town?" asked Caroline as Jenna started to dish up starters, "How long were you away for?"

Stephen looked uncomfortable for a split second, Autumn didn't think that anyone else at the table had seen except her.

"I lived here when I was very little, but then moved away after our parents died. Damon and I agreed that after he'd finished college then we would move back here," said Stephen, "And that I'd transfer"

"What did you study in college, Damon?" asked Jenna

"Human biology," said Damon, "Always interested me at school, so I figured I'd carry it on – not sure what I'm going to do with it yet"

"Always the problem," said Jenna, "I'm doing a Masters in animal psychology at Duke – not sure what I'm going to do when that's over! Maybe a doctorate, just for the sake of continuing study"

"Why would you wanna stay in school for that long?" asked Jeremy, "I can't wait to get out"

"Ah, you think that now," said Jenna with a grin, "But when the big bad world comes up to bite you on the ass… right Damon?"

"True, you never know when it hits you," said Damon with a shrug

"My brother and his words of wisdom," said Stephen with a grin.

"Sounds like Autumn," said Bonnie looking over at her friend.

"What?" asked Autumn.

"You can be a bit emo when you want to be," said Bonnie with a smirk.

"I can not!" said Autumn, wondering why Bonnie was having a dig – especially after what had happened the other night, "When I have ever sounded emo?"

"And anyway, are you calling me emo?" asked Damon, calling Bonnie's bluff.

"No!" said Bonnie with a slight blush, "But Autumn, when you were talking about crows in the graveyard and such like"

"Yeah, well the setting lends to that tone, right?" said Elena, "You could hardly tell stories about graveyards and it not be slightly gothic sounding,"

Autumn grinned across at her sister, she could always count on her to stand by her, whether it was trivial, like now, or in more serious situations.

"But they don't want to hear that anyway," said Autumn, "They already know; it was where I first ran into Damon and mistook him for a tourist,"

"Whoops," said Jenna

"Yeah by the way, where did you go that day? I meant to offer you my apologies for being so rude but when I turned around you'd just gone?" said Autumn looking across at Damon.

"I'd parked my car around the corner," said Damon with a shrug, "And it was about to rain…"

Autumn shrugged, "I was just startled was all, one minute you were there, the next 'poof'!"

Damon grinned, his blue eyes lighting up somewhat as he did so, the piercing gaze never leaving hers. She looked away first.

As dinner progressed talk turned to families, with Damon and Stephen both expressing their regret at the passing of Elena, Autumn and Jeremy's parents. Autumn let it pass, it didn't seem too difficult talking about them anymore, in some ways she even enjoyed it, it brought their faces back to the forefront of her memory.

"Check out the picture of baby Elena… or Autumn – we still haven't figured out which!" said Jenna motioning behind Elena's head. Both girls immediately groaned in unison as the two guys turned to look, Elena had a blush creeping up her cheeks but Autumn managed to keep it under control.

"Jenna!" she said, "Can we not?"

"What?" asked her aunt innocently as Stephen laughed at the picture of one of the twins dressed up as a caterpillar, "You look cute!"

"Well it's fine," said Autumn, "Cause it's not me anyway,"

"It definitely is," said Elena, twisting around in her seat, "She's got the set of the chin, just like you,"

Autumn raised her eyebrow at her sister as the proclamation of a challenge.

"How come you're not together in that picture?" asked Caroline, looking across at it.

"Our parents didn't take many pictures of us together when we were babies," said Elena with a shrug, "Guess we were too difficult to get happy and smiling at the same time, only when we get a bit older are we in the same frame – it must have been easier then!"

"Something like that," said Jenna, "Your mom always did say it was hard work!"

"That's what my mother used to say," said Stephen with a smile, "And we weren't even twins…"

"Urgh, can you imagine – being the same as you?" asked Damon with a mock-grimace at his brother, his brother ignored him somewhat but Autumn felt a little ripple of tension between them.

Just at that moment the phone rang on the telephone table, causing Jenna to get up to go answer it.

"I see you have a piano," said Stephen looking over into the corner of the room, "Do you all play?"

"No," said Elena, "We all took lessons as kids but Autumn was the only one who kept it up. Our mom used to play too,"

"That's cool," said Stephen, "I used to play as well, but I gave it up"

"I haven't played in a while though," said Autumn apologetically, "I'm probably a little rusty,"

Jenna came back into the room, her face white.

"What's wrong Jenna?" asked Caroline, who noticed first.

"You know Vicky Donovan went missing last night?" asked Jenna shakily, "Or rather she didn't show up at school this morning? Well they found her. She'd been attacked by an animal along with three other people. They're dead, but somehow she survived. She's in the hospital now. They called here to tell us because they knew you guys are friends, and might know why Vicky was where she was in the first place"

There was immediate uproar at her words. Jeremy wanted to go to the hospital to see Vicky, Caroline wanted to go with him as she and Vicky were probably the closest. Bonnie and Elena were confused and in shock, Autumn was wondering aloud to them what sort of animal would attack a group of four people. Only Damon and Stephen were relatively quiet during the explosion of noise; letting the friends of Vicky figure out what they were going to do.

"Alright!" yelled Jenna over Jeremy's insistent shouting that he was going to the hospital whether she liked it or not, "I will drive Jeremy and Caroline to the hospital, Bonnie do you wanna stay here…?"

"No, I'll drive home and speak to my dad. As a warden he might know something," said Bonnie.

"Elena and Autumn, what are you going to do?" asked Jenna, already reaching for her car keys.

"I'll stay here," said Autumn, "We don't want to overcrowd things at the hospital"

"Yeah me too," said Elena, "We'll clear up,"

Jenna nodded and then turned to the brothers, "I am so sorry to ruin your evening like this guys,"

"It's fine," said Damon kindly, "It was very enjoyable up until the upsetting news,"

"Jenna, do you want us to stay here until you get back," said Stephen, "We can help the girls clear up and wait for news…?"

"That would be very kind of you – yes, Jeremy I am coming! -," said Jenna, "You don't have to do that,"

"It's the least we could do," said Stephen.

Jenna nodded and with that turned and left before Jeremy stole her keys and drove himself. Caroline and Bonnie disappeared swiftly after her leaving just the twins and the Salvatore brothers in the house.

"I hope Vicky's going to be okay," said Elena, "An animal attack? There seems to be have been a lot of those lately…"

"I'm sure she'll be fine," said Autumn, "At least they found her when they did,"

Elena had already stood up and walked away to start doing the dishes, but Autumn didn't miss the look that passed from Stephen to Damon. It wasn't just a look of annoyance; it was a look that conveyed a conversation between the brothers, because Damon's face went from his easy smile to a look somewhere between determination and anger.

Then Damon's eyes slid across and met hers and she quickly looked away, hoping that he hadn't caught her staring at the two of them.

"Are you guys coming to help or not?" came Elena's disembodied voice from the kitchen. Autumn jumped up, and picking up some of the glasses off the table, moved away to help her sister.


	8. A Puzzle With No Edges

**A/N – Hey guys, as much as I enjoy writing this – it would be nice to know what you think! Just one comment? Or two? Just to make my day….**

**Also, sorry this chapter is sort of short, but I figured that quite a lot is said/happens in it so… **

**Hope you enjoy it!**

**XO**

Chapter Eight

"You are such a fucking idiot," said Stephen the second he and his brother were safely in the car on the way home, having waited for Jenna and Jeremy to get back from the hospital. Jenna had thanked them profusely for staying, even if Elena and Autumn technically didn't need 'looking after', the support was beyond invaluable.

'Thanks for the heads up," said Damon, his eyes on the road in front of him, "I didn't know she was still alive,"

"I can't decide which part of that sentence is more disgusting," said Stephen, anger etched onto his face, "That we're in this mess because you attacked one of their _friends_ or because you thought you left an innocent girl dead."

"I didn't know she was their friend," said Damon with a nonchalant shrug, "She just looked like another stoner kid to me – and I was hungry, you know how it goes"

Stephen would've punched him if it weren't for the fact he was driving the car and there were other vehicles on the road. He didn't want to cause a fatal accident.

"No I don't know how it goes, Damon," said Stephen after repressing the urge to kill his brother.

"Don't worry about it," continued Damon, ignoring his brother, "I'll sort it out,"

"You're not going to kill her," said Stephen, "Compel her to forget"

Damon rolled his eyes, "So much messier and more potential for mistakes"

"She's their friend Damon," Stephen reiterated, "You can't kill her! Do you know how suspicious this looks already?"

"I know," said Damon with a sparkle of mischief in his eyes, "How many more excuses d'you think they can come up with?"

"Damon, you're playing with fire!" said Stephen angrily, "You know what happened before – we cannot risk that again,"

"It's not going to happen again," said Damon, "Katherine got reckless… and she paid for it. Maybe."

There was brief beat as Stephen registered what he'd said, "Maybe? What do you mean?"

Damon didn't answer as he turned into the Salvatore driveway, "Nothing."

"What are you hiding from me?" asked Stephen, his eyes widening as he looked over at his brother.

Damon shrugged as he parked the car, "Being alive for so long – you hear so many things brother,"

Stephen narrowed his eyes at his brother, but knew due to Damon's intensely stubborn nature that he wouldn't be getting anything more out of him unless he forced it, or until Damon was ready to tell. He didn't know whether it was worth the energy, with everything else that was already going on.

Damon parked up the car and got out, walking towards the front porch and then into the house, Stephen trailed behind him, musing on his words.

"Speaking of our little Katherine lookalikes, what did you think about tonight?" asked Damon heading straight for the whisky. He always did enjoy his after dinner drink.

"What do you mean?" asked Stephen moodily, still unwilling to be nice to his brother after what he'd just said about Vicky Donovan.

"The picture thing," said Damon, taking a sip of the golden liquid in the crystallized glass, "I thought it was a little odd"

Stephen tried to keep his face totally blank, musing on whether he should tell his brother what he knew about the Gilbert twins, or rather didn't know. Then again, if he didn't, would he just attempt to figure it out himself – with who knew what consequences?

Damon's eyes were locked on his face and Stephen realised that he'd figured out he was holding something back.

"What?" asked Damon, demanding he spit it out.

"Well you know after the car crash?" said Stephen, "And I told you that I was interested in Elena because of how she looked?"

"Yes," said Damon, wondering where this was going, but interested nonetheless.

"Well I did a bit of digging," said Stephen, "Because she looked so much like Katherine that I thought it was beyond coincidence. I found that Elena was… adopted"

"Adopted?!" asked Damon's eyes flying wide open, "But Katherine died without children right?"

"Well we always assumed that, we never actually knew," said Stephen with something of a shrug, "Elena could be a distant descendant"

Damon paused for a moment, looking back across at his brother, "Wait… you said Elena was adopted? What about Autumn?"

"That's the thing," said Stephen, thrusting his hands into his pockets, "There was nothing about Autumn at all. That's why I was so surprised on the first day of school when I saw them both there. For a minute I thought it was Katherine, but swiftly realised it wasn't…"

"So Autumn wasn't there at all?" asked Damon, just to be doubly sure.

"Nothing on the records," said Stephen with a shrug, "When I looked I surmised that Elena must be part of Katherine's bloodline… but I have no idea where Autumn fits into that,"

Damon narrowed his eyes very slightly before drinking the last of his whisky and placing the glass down on the sideboard. He looked as if was chewing something over, before he clearly decided to divulge whatever it was.

"I saw something the other night," he said, looking across at Stephen once again, "When I went to the window"

"Oh?" asked Stephen

"It was when Autumn and that Bonnie girl were alone," said Damon, wondering how to phrase what he'd seen, "Autumn woke up and Bonnie went to comfort her, but the second they touched she was thrown backwards. And I don't mean in a shock sort of way, I mean in a right-across-the-room type of way,"

Stephen didn't say anything for a moment as he digested this information, before speaking again, "So what are you saying?"

"I don't know Stephen!" said Damon, "That's the point – I have no idea. But that's why I'm interested in her; the fainting, the feeling I get from her, the thing with Bonnie, and now what you've just told me as well. There's something go on with her, I just don't know what it is"

"Could she be a witch?" suggested Stephen

Damon shrugged, "I don't think so. I don't know why – she doesn't give off that vibe unlike Ms. Bennett"

Stephen nodded slightly, "And if she was, they would probably recognise each other as akin?"

"Probably," said Damon, "I have no idea how that witchy voodoo works, I don't even know if Bonnie has figured it out yet"

"Well, she will soon if she's getting thrown about by..," said Stephen and then paused.

"Precisely… by what?" asked Damon, before sighing slightly, "Well at least it gives me an excuse to stick around for a bit longer,"

Stephen shrugged in resignation, knowing better than to argue with his brother when he was onto something.

"Right, well you sort out the Vicky mess – I'm going to bed," said Stephen turning away from his brother, "Oh, and try not to kill anyone on the way to the hospital"

A derisive snort came from his brother as he left the library behind him. Damon watched his brother go dispassionately; he could be so judgey sometimes, just because he lived the life of a vampire saint – most of the time anyway. Damon turned back to the fireplace, glancing at the flickering flames before him.

He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was about Autumn that he felt. When he'd touched her it was like an ultimate radiation of life, a power inside that seemed to just breathe existence, a total vitality that he had never felt before; not from a witch, not from another vampire, and certainly not from a human. It almost made him feel alive again it was that powerful. Secretly he wanted to feel that again. It wasn't the only reason he wanted to be around her; he liked her smile – the way it turned up at the corner in small, reserved picture of happiness, as opposed to her sister's total radiate smile that hide nothing of her thoughts.

If Elena was an open book, with pages written about her openness, her truthfulness and her kindness, then Autumn was a locked diary, with the script written in code. Damon didn't think this lessened Elena, it just made her totally different. They both had a purity to them, Elena on what she projected out, Autumn because of something deep within.

Damon shook his head, he had stuff to get on with and couldn't spend the entire night perplexing about the twins. Or maybe not twins after what Stephen had told him tonight – that was another mystery, or maybe the key to the first; where had Autumn come from?

* * *

Autumn wasn't sleeping either. She was lying awake in her bed staring at the ceiling, thoughts and feelings whirring through her brain. It was completely dark, bar the moonlight peeking in through the crack in her curtains.

She didn't know why she couldn't sleep, her brain just didn't seem to want to switch off. She was thinking about the events of the evening, or rather the previous evening as it was now creeping towards 2am. Her mind kept drifting back to all the encounters she had had thus far with Damon, the first time at the bridge when he disappeared, as if into thin air. The second time, at the party when he had looked after her, the look he'd given her when she'd told him her name. The time in the park, when they'd talked about literature and life, making her lose track of the seconds on the clock. And tonight, when they'd shared a glance across the table, his interest in her family history, and the way he and Stephen had stayed after the news about Vicky broke.

Then her mind moved over to Vicky – caught up in an animal attack out in the forest. There had been a lot of those lately, and apparently the sheriff and the gamekeepers were no closer to finding out what was doing it than a few weeks ago. Some people said mountain lion, others said actual lion – whatever was doing it, she hoped they caught it fast. At least Vicky was alive and safe in hospital, where no more harm could come to her. Autumn had never been that close to Vicky, but she was glad that she was going to be alright - even if only for Jeremy's sake.

She rolled over and closed her eyes, attempting to shut the events of the last two weeks out of her mind, just so she could get a few hours of shut-eye. Thankfully, within a few minutes the edge of sleep was creeping up on her, as if the sense of lethargy was creeping from her fingers all over her body. Just as she was about to fall over of the abyss of sleep she saw a flash of blue eyes in front of her vision. Less than a split second and then she was gone.

Her dreams were troubled that night. Dark shapes on the edge of her vision, leaning over faceless people, their necks exposed to the sharp whiteness of teeth, before fading into obscurity. She awoke at dawn, a small frown on her face, her dreams slipping away like sand through her fingers.


	9. The Edge of Darkness

**A.N – Okay, well quite a lot happens in this chapter. I would really appreciate some feedback on it, thanks! **

**The next chapter won't be out until next week sometime because I am going away for the weekend. Hope this tides you over until then! **

**XO**

Chapter Nine

The next few days went by fairly normally; Vicky remained in hospital whilst they monitered her condition, but she would be out soon. Matt had showed up the day after she'd been found and said that she'd woken up but that she remembered next to nothing about her attack. The doctors reckoned that this was to do with traumatic stress and the huge amount of blood loss she'd experienced. They hoped that something might come back to her soon, something that would help them identify and corner whatever it was that had attacked them.

Autumn had been busy helping Caroline for those days; Halloween night was upon them, and being Caroline she wanted everything to be perfect. The school gym and hallways were unrecognizable – bedecked in streamers, cobwebs, fake spiders, skeletons and such like – it was certainly a talking point for all the students. Everyone and their friends were coming to the Halloween party that night, and all anyone was talking about was what they were coming as. Of course Elena and Autumn had coordinated on their outfits, they always did. One year that had both gone as Wednesday 13 from the Addams family; that had really freaked people out. Apparently being twins was bad enough, having two Wednesday's was just downright wrong.

School had just finished, history having been the last period of the day, and everyone was heading home to get ready for the party. There was a buzz of excitement in the air as everyone discussed and finalized their plans.

"Alright," said Caroline when they reached her car, "We'll all meet back here at seven thirty?"

"Yes, for the final time Caroline, we will all be here," said Bonnie with a roll of her eyes.

"It's important!" said Caroline, "I'm sure you'll look fabulous – see you later!"

"Do you think she's excited?" said Stephen dryly as Caroline got into her car and drove away.

"Just a bit," said Elena, "Well it's the first 'big' event of the year that she's organized, she wants it to be amazing"

"I'm sure it will be," said Stephen, "You guys have worked pretty hard on it,"

"Pretty hard?" asked Bonnie with a grin, "Caroline's been working us like slaves for the best part of four days,"

Stephen grinned and then scanned the car park.

"What're you looking for?" asked Elena

"Damon," said Stephen, "He's supposed to be picking me up – my car's got a flat and I haven't had time to change it yet,"

"Over there," said Autumn as a flashy sports car drove into the car park, dodging students who were attempting to leave.

"Obviously," said Stephen as his brother drove towards them, braking within inches of his brother's legs.

"Nice ride!" came the holler from the other side of the lot, Damon smiled across at whoever it was as he got out of the car.

"You're kind of blocking the way," said Bonnie pointedly, looking at the way he'd stopped.

Damon shrugged nonchalantly, "Well they can just drive the other way around,"

Autumn couldn't help but grin at his arrogance; normally she wouldn't find it funny at all, because normally it was a show that someone was putting on to cover up their inner fears – when Damon was arrogant it was because he genuinely did not give a shit.

"Well on that note," said Bonnie coldly, "I'm gonna go – see you guys at the party tonight,"

"See you later Bonnie," said Elena and then yelled after her, "What are you going as?!"

Bonnie turned as she walked, "A witch!" and then she continued on her way.

"Alright," said Stephen turning to Elena, "I'll guess I'll see you later"

"Yeah," said Elena

"Still not going to tell me what you're going as?" he asked with a glint in his eye.

"Nope," said Elena teasingly before turning to Autumn, "And don't you tell either!"

"Oh so it's coordinated?" guessed Stephen with a grin, "Oh the hints…"

"Well you'll just have to show up to find out," said Elena with a giggle on her lips.

Stephen didn't reply, he just leaned and pecked her on the lips – cutting off the sound. Autumn just looked pointedly over the couple at Damon who rolled his eyes. She couldn't help but giggle a little herself as the couple detached themselves.

"Ready?" asked Damon, "Finished with the PDA's?"

Stephen just shrugged before moving towards the car, "Yeah"

"Oh by the way guys," said Damon with a mischievous grin, "I will also see you later – I'm chaperoning this ere thing,"

Stephen looked over his brother with an eyebrow raised, "Whose arm did you have to twist to get that?"

"Nobody's of course," said Damon, "I was in the Grill earlier when your history teacher was in there. He mentioned that they were short a chaperone, so I volunteered,"

"A bit late for the costume run, no?" asked Autumn with a grin.

"Do I look like the costume sort of guy?" asked Damon looking across at her.

"I guess it depends on the mood," said Autumn a sparkle in her eyes, vaguely wondering why she was being so bold.

Damon didn't say anything in reply, he just smirked before giving her a little nod and getting in the car. Autumn saw Stephen scowling at his brother as they backed away, and when she turned around she saw a similar one upon her sister's features.

"What?" she asked innocently

"Damon, really?" Elena asked as they walked towards their own car.

"What about him?" asked Autumn, "He seems like a nice guy"

"Not exactly the vibe I get from him," said Elena, "And he's at least four years older than you,"

"What vibe do you get from him?" said Autumn testily as they started the drive home, "And so? Who cares about age gaps? It's not like I'm twelve wanting to date the quarterback"

Elena just looked across at her, "He seems unpredictable and a bit… dangerous"

Autumn shot a scathing look at her sister, "He does not seem dangerous… and maybe I like the unpredictability. Every other guy around here is so boring. And anyway, I'm not dating the guy – we flirted for approximately ten seconds."

"He doesn't seem like the sort of guy to do stuff by halves," said Elena warily

"Good," said Autumn, "Neither do I. But as I said, not that it matters – we flirted for a tiny amount of time and we've hung out a few times. Hardly tantamount to us going steady."

Elena didn't say anything else about it as they drew up to the house. She probably figured she wasn't going to win that one, or that she would give it another go later.

They split up inside the house to get ready before they helped each other out on costumes and make up. They had a pretty cool idea when it came to what they were wearing, and both had kept mum on what it was.

As they finished doing their initial going out routine they convened in Elena's room to get dressed. They're costumes had both been hung up in Elena's costumes for a few days, locked away to keep them secret from Jeremy who would've undoubtedly blabbed to somebody. Jenna had helped them put them together and they were all pretty pleased with the results.

"This was such a good idea, El," said Autumn as they looked at them laid out on the bed.

Elena grinned across at her sister as she grabbed her costume. They had decided to go as Batman villains – Elena as Harley Quinn, Autumn as Poison Ivy. It took them an hour to get ready, as they did each other's hair and make up – the argument of earlier almost forgotten. Autumn knew the hatchet was hidden, not buried, however.

Jeremy had decided that he wasn't going to go to the dance, he was going to go over to Vicky's – recently out of hospital - and chill there, so as Autumn and Elena drove back to the school they were alone.

The school was already fairly busy when they arrived and got out of the car into the darkness. They would wait for the others inside; it being pretty damn chilly outside with it being October, the air clear and fresh. Other pupils passed them taking in their outfits with looks of awe, if it was one thing the Gilbert twins did well it was costumes.

"Wow, you guys look awesome," said Bonnie as she found them, her own costume looking pretty cool. She'd gone for the traditional witch look, with the pointy hat, ragged looking dress and lots of purple make up.

"Glad you like it," said Elena, "It took me ages to make this corset"

"You made it?" asked Bonnie

"Well yeah, it's difficult to find a shop-bought one in different colours," said Elena with a shrug, "Jenna helped out with the materials"

"I think Stephen's going to fall over when he sees you," said Bonnie

"Well that was the general plan," said Elena with a giggle, "Shhh, they're coming now"

Autumn looked up as she saw Damon's car pull into the lot, through the open door they were stood by. She quickly readjusted her own costume – regardless of what Elena thought, she knew exactly what she was doing.

The two guys themselves appeared to dressed as vampires; both wearing all black, collars turned up against their necks, boots on their feet. It suited them both well – Damon's shirt showed off his toned chest through the material.

"Wow, you guys look scary," said Elena, giving both of them a moment to recover as they both clearly checked them out. The two girls were quite a sight: Elena in harlequin pattered tights, black shorts and a red and white corset, with a black bra peeking over the top; Autumn wearing light green leggings with a gold leaf pattern running up them, a green body form leotard, with a red short sleeve jacket done up on the first button only – she had also dyed her hair for the occasion, changing it from its regular brunette to a deep mahogany colour.

"And you look… amazing," said Stephen, his eyes raking over his girlfriend's form, unable to restrain himself no matter how gentlemanly he normally was.

"But you've forgotten one thing," said Autumn looking over the two guys, "Neither of you remembered your fangs!"

Damon grinned across at Stephen, "How could we have forgotten that Stephen?"

Stephen shrugged and proffered his arm to Elena who took it with a small smile. Bonnie followed after them, leaving Autumn with Damon in the doorway.

"Aren't you supposed to be chaperoning?" she asked looking up at him.

"Supposed to be," said Damon, "May a chaperone you in?"

Autumn grinned and took Damon's arm, in a mirror of Elena and Stephen as they entered the dance hall.

"I'll take that thank you," said Damon taking a red punch cup off someone as they tried to get past.

"But it's just fruit juice," the guy protested. Damon took one sniff at it and raised his eyebrow at the varsity player.

"I wasn't born yesterday," he said and the guy huffed and walked off, deciding it was probably wise not to argue.

"Got your serious hat on tonight?" said Autumn as she watched Caroline attempting to some last minute organizing of minute details.

"Well I might as well do my job properly" said Damon with a shrug, "So what have we got going on here?"

"Well you've got the haunted house, which is in here," said Autumn, "They druid room – Bonnie's idea – which is over there, the dungeon-"

"Dungeon?" asked Damon, "Sounds kinky"

"Definitely not that sort of dungeon," said Autumn with a giggle, "And then over there is the enchanted forest,"

"Seems like this has been really well thought out," said Damon

"Well what do you expect?" Autumn asked, "Caroline and I organized it,"

"Good job," said Damon as he looked around the room, "Uh-oh we're being glared at"

"By who?" asked Autumn and then seeing her sister looking across at them, "Yeah Elena and I had a bit of a falling out earlier,"

"Oh yes?" asked Damon

"Yeah she doesn't really like us hanging out," said Autumn apologetically, "Apparently she thinks your dangerous,"

"Does she now?" asked Damon thoughtfully looking across at Elena again, "Wonder where she got that idea from,"

"Well dressed like that – you could be!" said Autumn with a grin, "Anyway, I promised Matt a dance – see you a bit later?"

"For sure," said Damon and they parted ways. Damon watched her go, the costume she was wearing doing very little to leave her body to the imagination, and he liked what he saw – the red hair definitely suited her as well. He chuckled at his brother's thinly veiled words that had come out of Elena's mouth. Stephen didn't like seeing Damon and Autumn anywhere near each other because of Damon's track record with women – particularly human ones. Well, on that note, Damon wasn't even sure that Autumn was human. He hadn't ruled out that she was, but the mystery surrounding her seemed a bit deeper than that answer would offer solution to.

Autumn went and found the others, dancing with Matt as promised, and then moving around the different rooms – even though she knew exactly what was going to happen in each – having organized it herself – she affected to scream in the dungeon as 'Vlad the Impaler' ran after her. After an hour or so she detached herself from the group to go and get some air outside; it was getting a bit stuffy in the gym with all those people.

She stepped out into the cool night and headed away from the school buildings slightly, she glanced up at the sky where the full moon was glowing in the darkness. She felt relaxed and at peace as she took in the beauty of the moon, feeling zen in the darkness. She almost forgot the chill of the night as she allowed herself to wind down for a moment. She was disturbed when she heard a voice coming from around the corner of the building which she decided to investigate – most people were still inside.

"What do you want?" came a worried male voice, stuttering in fear. Autumn sped up a little bit, and rounded the corner with the hope of helping the man. She spotted two people next to the bleachers, one of them clearly threatening the other; she recognised the one with his back up against the metal frame as Mr. Tanner, her history teacher.

"Nothing," said the other voice, another male voice, deep and scratchy in it's tone, "I'm just hungry"

And with that the more dominant figure bit Tanner's neck, his strong arms holding the body of Tanner secure as the gulping sounds of a throat swallowing liquid were heard. Autumn would've screamed but she was frozen to the spot at the sight, so impossible and yet really happening in front of her very eyes. She wondered if she was hallucinating, or if she had somehow fallen asleep and she was in a terrible nightmare.

She watched almost in slow motion as Mr. Tanner's body fell to the floor in graceful arc, the thud as it hit the floor seemed to bring her back to her senses. She turned on heel and began to run, to find someone, anyone. There was a sound nearby like the whipping of the wind and then a hand was on her shoulder, spinning her around, and then one at her throat.

The sight in front of her made her let out a yelp of fear; it was a man – but not a man. His eyes had darkened to pools of liquid ebony, red veins pulsed underneath, and long fangs elongated from his gums in a picture of terror. She tried to shake herself, in attempt to wake up from this horrifying nightmare.

"Please don't hurt me," she begged, her voice coming out dry and hoarse. Her brain wasn't even trying to process what was going on right now, she just wanted to stay alive.

"Just in the wrong place, wrong time huh, sweetheart?" asked the man leaning in close, his hands stronger than she could ever imagine. She couldn't seem to move as she looked into his eyes, those terrifying eyes of ultimate darkness. She tried to struggle, to break free, but his grip was holding her close as he leaned in, his mouth touching her neck. A pulse of fear and anger shot through her and as it did the man yelped, letting her go momentarily, looking at his hands which had gone bright red, as if burned.

Less than a second later she regained her wits, and started to back away, but as she did so there was another noise like a cheetah in the dark and a black figure had collided with her would-be attacker. It sounded like two boulders colliding as his back hit the floor, her rescuer crouching above him, holding the man down with a hand on his chest as a fist connected with his jaw.

Her attacker gripped the other man by the collar, their bodies twisting over so fast that their hands and bodies were a blur. He didn't try anything else, just twisted out from underneath the rescuer, got to his feet and was gone faster than the speed of sound. Autumn's eyes had been transfixed on the scene before her as she tried to piece together what she had seen. Her eyes moved to the figure on the floor, who she hastily recognised as Damon. She didn't move towards him, however, she didn't feel as if he represented safety to her at that moment in time – his body was heaving with adrenaline, and his breath was short.

Damon got to his feet and spun around to take in the sight of the terrified and perplexed girl in front of him, her arms hugging herself almost instinctively.

"Autumn…" he started but his voice was hoarse. She didn't say anything, just looked at him with a mixture of confusion and horror on her pale face.

"You're bleeding," Damon said motioning to the girl. Autumn put her hand up to her neck, realizing the thing must have tried to attack her in the same way he had Tanner, there was a small amount of blood coming from a tiny puncture wound on her neck.

"Damon," she said simply, her voice just becoming to come back to her, "What… happened? What was that? How did you…?"

So many questions jumbled together in her brain, each jostling for position on the edge of her lips. Damon looked at her with something close to pity – she didn't want him to pity her.

"I think you need to come with me," said Damon, holding out his hand to her.

"What about that man?" she asked looking away into the darkness, "What if he comes back?"

"He won't" Damon assured her.

For some reason Autumn trusted his answer, "What about Tanner?"

"Someone will find him," said Damon gently, "I will tell Stephen"

Autumn closed her eyes to try and reach a sense of clarity, her answers lay with Damon, but as she had just seen him take on god knows what with seemingly an inhuman amount of strength, she wasn't sure her safety did.

"I'll help you," said Damon stepping closer to her, his piercing blue eyes catching hers, "Come with me"

And she did. She took his offered hand, and stepped with him into the darkness. She figured that it was safer to be with him than it was to be out here, when whatever had attacked her might come back. Damon seemed like her best option at that moment of a thousand implications.


	10. Impossible Truths

Chapter Ten

Before she really knew where she was Autumn was stood on the front porch of an impressive looking mansion, with a Tudor looking frontage. Damon had driven her out here after she had agreed to go with him away from the school. She really should have text Elena to tell her where she was going, but now her phone was dead and she couldn't. Maybe Stephen would call Damon so he could tell him.

Damon opened the front door to the place, giving Autumn her first glimpse inside the Salvatore mansion. A red carpet ran along the floor, leading towards a large room in the middle of the house. The staircase appeared to be at the back, with other corridors and rooms leading off the main room. There was dark paneling along every wall with plush red furnishings and rich art along the walls.

"Come on in, it's cold out," said Damon glancing up at the open night sky, where the full moon was still visible in the midst of the trees.

Autumn didn't say anything, she just moved in through the front door letting Damon shut it behind her. She was totally overwhelmed by what had happened this evening and thought that words were quite beyond her for the moment. She followed Damon into the room which she had seen in the middle of the house, it was lined with books – more than she could possibly count – she gaped a little at the sheer number.

"Are these all yours?" she spoke for the first time since arriving at the house.

Damon smiled briefly, "Well they're unlikely to be anyone else's"

Autumn couldn't smile back but nodded slightly dumbly in response.

"Please sit down, I can see you're a bit shocked. I'll get us a drink," Damon said politely. Autumn vaguely wondered whether he was worried about her – if that was the case he didn't need to be, she wasn't feeling woozy, in fact she hardly felt anything at all – all she could think about was that man, and the way he had attacked Mr. Tanner.

She sat down heavily on a sofa near the fireplace and watched carefully as Damon poured out two glasses of whisky. She felt a slight tinge of fear go through her as he approached but then reminded herself that he was the one who saved her tonight.

"It's alright," he said handing it to her, as if he sensed her shot of fear.

She took a sip of the liquid, feeling it burn slightly as it traveled down her throat. Damon sat down opposite her, looking at her carefully, as if he expected her to get up and start screaming all of a sudden. It seemed as if every muscle in his body was still ready for a fight, even though the thought of running and screaming was far from her mind. Part of her told her that she wouldn't get very far anyway. Damon no longer felt totally safe, as he done only a few hours beforehand.

She drew in a breath for courage and then asked the same question she'd asked earlier, "What happened? What was that… man… doing?"

Damon looked at his glass for a moment before looking back across at her, "I think you know about the man. If you say what's really on your mind."

She paused and remembered how she'd looked into the man's eyes; those ebony pools of darkness, saw the fangs in his mouth, the blood on his lips. Tanner's blood.

"But that's impossible," she breathed.

"Is it?" he asked, "You saw it tonight, does that mean it's still impossible?"

"But it can't be true!" she said more vehemently but her voice became weaker as she spoke, "Those… things… only exist in fairytales and fantasy"

She stopped, "But that doesn't explain tonight?"

Damon shook his head, "No it doesn't… the world is a little more complex than you might have initially been led to believe"

Autumn's eyes never left his face, "Complex how? Damon… if you know something, just tell me."

Damon smiled briefly, "I know a lot Autumn. Some of which I might tell you, some of which I can't tell you. The problem is that if I do, you won't think of me in the same way ever again,"

Autumn swallowed slightly, remembering everything that happened tonight, "Earlier, you moved as fast as that man. You fought him"

Damon nodded, "I was able to fight him, we have the same strength,"

"The same strength?" Autumn repeated, she imagined her face had drained of all colour, she was so confused and scared right now. She didn't want to say aloud what she was thinking because it sounded so stupid, and yet it was becoming clear to her that Damon was not the person she thought she'd got to know.

"I had a dream a few nights ago," said Autumn quietly, "It was like tonight, an image of things in the darkness, drinking from people's necks. I woke up in the morning and the first thing I thought of was…"

She stopped, unwilling to let the word fall from her lips.

"Yes?" Damon pressed sounding a little sad as he did so.

"Vampire," she said softly, putting her glass down on the table next to her. She saw Damon's eyes following the movement.

"Vampire," he repeated solidly.

"You?" she asked, unable to form full sentences in that instant, his eyes had no hint of a lie in them, but then she started babbling, "The day by the bridge when you smelt blood on me before I'd even noticed. The fact you disappeared so quickly, the night in the forest when you found me, the fact that Jenna had to invite you in!"

She watched him as he acknowledged all of these accusations, his face barely changing at all. Her hands were clenched on her thighs as she waited for his answer to her unasked question. Her breathing was quick, adrenaline rushing through her.

"It's true," he said softly. She believed him.

And with that she fled. Got up off the sofa and ran towards the front door, unsure of what she would do when she got there.

There was a sound like the north wind in her ear and then suddenly Damon was in front of her, she had to stop short to stop herself colliding with his chest.

"Autumn!" he said with his wide, "It's true. I am a vampire. But I'm not going to hurt you – I swear it,"

"If you swear it, then let me go," she said her voice unsteady, her mind totally reeling from his words.

"I can't do that," he said, "There's another vampire out there for a fact, there could be others – I also can't let you leave with this knowledge until you've calmed down"

"Calmed down?" she asked hysterically looking around for something with which to defend herself, "You've just told me that you're a blood sucking monster and you want me to calm down?!"

Damon paused for a second, "And I've sworn not to hurt you,"

Her chest was heaving as she looked around for other escape routes but knew he would get there before her anyway. She looked up at him, his dark handsomeness and his deep blue eyes, earlier they had seemed mere attributes, now it seemed as if they hid a deeper power.

Then something clicked in her mind, "Stephen… Oh god Elena!"

She rummaged in her pocket for her phone, only to realize it was flat and crying out in frustration.

"Don't worry," said Damon, "Elena will be safe with Stephen – especially after tonight,"

"Where are they?" asked Autumn hoarsely.

"I imagine they're at your house," explained Damon, "Stephen will have taken her someplace safe after tonight's attack"

Autumn didn't know what to do. She was frozen to the spot and yet she wanted to run. Something was telling her to put her hands up to fight and yet part of her was telling her that that would be utterly futile. She thought of that vampire, out in the world, and realised she didn't want to step outside. And yet she was in here, with another one. It was hardly a preferable situation.

Her eyes sought Damon's and she couldn't help but imagine what they would look like as that man's had looked tonight.

"I can't go?" she asked, wondering if she was signing her own death sentence.

"No," he said, "You're safe here compared to out there"

Autumn didn't know whether to believe him or not, although she wasn't sure she had a huge amount of choice. She breathed out a breath she wasn't even aware she'd been holding.

"You can stay down here if you want," said Damon looking around, "Or I can show you a guest room – might be a bit more comfortable"

Autumn looked around at the room, the huge windows with the darkness of the night pressing in. Somehow she was imagining faces with ebony eyes and fangs pressing in at them and a momentary beat of fear passed through her body.

"I'll go upstairs," she said, holding her voice steady.

Damon nodded and then spoke, "I'm sorry you had to find out like this Autumn. If I'd have had my way you wouldn't have found out at all, but if it had been necessary it certainly wouldn't have been like this"

Autumn nodded slightly and shook her head very slightly, "Not entirely sure there is a good way to find out though,"

Damon shrugged slightly, "It depends"

Autumn wondered how he had found out about vampires. Surely he can't have been born one? That wasn't possible right? Vampires were created, not born? She suddenly realised that she had so many questions and yet she was too terrified to ask any of them.

She followed Damon up the stairs and out onto a long corridor upon which many rooms led off. He took her down to one near the end and showed her in; she couldn't help but let at a gasp at the beauty of the room. The floor was carpeted with cream plush wool and there was a canopy bed in the corner, with the material in a teal colour. There was a dark wood vanity and dresser along the wall, along with a bookcase along the back wall. It was simple but absolutely gorgeous.

"Now my room's just down the hall if you need anything," said Damon motioning off, "and the bathroom's just through there. I am sorry again Autumn, but it is better like this"

She sort of believed him for a moment as she stepped into the room, and he closed the door behind her. She didn't want to be out there, where that demon was still on the loose. But then again, she had just agreed to be shut up in a house with someone that she knew so little about.

She unlaced her corset and put it on a chair near the window before drawing the curtains – she'd be wearing a red singlet underneath it against the chill so it felt sort of like a pajama top. There was a spare toothbrush in the bathroom and a flannel so she was able to get ready for bed. She then went and lay down on top of the cool sheets, her mind absolutely whirring with the events of the night.

She had so many questions that needed answering, and yet she knew if she pursued those answers then there would be absolutely no turning back. Something told her that if she ignored it tonight, she could pass it off as a nightmare – as totally unreal and far-fetched – and yet some part of her curiosity was scratching at her to find out more. To separate the real from the unreal, or totally blur the two together.

She lay upon the coverlet, staring at the intricate woodwork above her for a good forty minutes, her eyes wide open as all these thoughts blurred in her brain, each fighting of dominance. Without really thinking she found herself placing her bare feet down upon the carpet, and walking towards the door. Was she being totally stupid? She didn't know.

She opened the heavy wooden door and stepped out into the darkened corridor, only the light from her bedroom providing her a visual of the hallway. She crept up to the door which she new was Damon's, her breath caught as she stood outside of it. Half of her wanted to flee, but something was keeping her rooted to the spot.

"Damon?" she whispered hoarsely, so quietly she was sure he wouldn't have heard, "Are you still awake?"

There was no answer from the other side and she was sure he must have been sleeping, but then the door handle moved down and the door opened. Damon was stood in the gap he created, wearing nothing but long black sleeping pants. She tried to avoid looking anywhere but his face as the corner of his lip curled up into almost a smirk.

"Can't sleep?" he asked even though he knew her answer.

Autumn shook her head and shrugged lamely before speaking, "I need… I need to know, Damon"

He paused for a second but then pushed the door back, "Come on in then"

Her eyes widened just a fraction at the idea of going into his room, but then she ducked under his arm and went straight in. This was the only way she was going to find out the truth.


	11. Fangs In The Face Of A Friend

**AN - Sorry this has taken so long! I've been without fully functioning internet for the best part of three weeks, so have been unable to post. Hopefully I'll be able to get back onto a more regular schedule. **

**XO**

Chapter Eleven

His room was large, larger than the one that he had put her in for the night; and it was open plan. The bathroom bedecked in black tile was an open space to the left of the room, his bed at an angle against the wall facing it. She was surprised to see light coloured bedding upon it; for some reason she had expected black silk, or something like that.

Damon crossed back past her in the middle of the room and flung himself onto the bed, so he was lying comfortably upon it, his gaze watching her in the middle of the room. She felt a little like a child that was about to be told off, something in his gaze was testy.

She didn't quite know where to start.

"Help me understand," she said quietly, "It all seems so real, and yet so unreal to me. As if I've stepped into a fairy tale. Expect one without the fairy godmother,"

"Oh I don't know, maybe Stefan could fill that role," Damon quipped.

Autumn looked at him seriously and he sighed slightly, "Alright. Well as I said about two hours ago, if you choose to learn and remember this, then your life will change forever,"

"What do you mean if I choose?" she said, "You've told me, and I'm not likely to forget anytime soon…"

Damon sat up slightly and looked at her, "Vampires have the ability to compel humans, to manipulate their minds"

"Manipulate them?" she asked, her breathing increasing slightly as a thousand possibilities went through her head, "Have you…?"

"No," he said instantly, "I haven't needed to, and as I've promised not to hurt you..."

Autumn nodded, in spite of herself believing him. She desperately wanted to believe him because the man sitting in front of her was still the person who, despite Elena's warnings, was the one who had started to become her friend, the first man as well who she thought she could truly feel something for. She wasn't in love with him by any means, but he made her feel something that she had never experienced in the company of any other guys she had ever met.

"So," she said thinking she might as well ask the big question, "What do you eat?"

Damon grinned despite the severity of the situation, "I _can_ eat almost anything. What I crave, however, is blood. Specifically human blood. But animal blood will do in a pinch even though it tastes disgusting,"

The part of her body that didn't engage with her brain spasmed with fear at the thought of human blood being a food source, of her blood being a food source. The thought was repugnant and horrific and yet somehow she found herself still standing here. She guessed it was like when an animal keeper gazed into the eyes of the tiger; they knew that death could await in those jaws and yet there was something holding them there, something fantastical and something mesmerizing.

"Say something," said Damon after a moment

"I'm not entirely sure what to say," she said, "I have so many thoughts, that I need to decide which of them are worth saying."

Damon nodded, "Well we have all night,"

Autumn glanced at the window, but nothing indicted to her the time as the curtains were firmly drawn against the October night.

"Tonight, the… vampire… who attacked me, his face… it looked, different. Distorted, even…" she said eventually, "Does yours…?"

Damon smirked again, "You want to see?"

Part of her shied away from what she might be about to see, but the other half of her was utterly fascinated, "Yes"

"Promise you won't scream?" Damon chuckled, only half-joking.

"I might look weak, but I'm made of fairly strong stuff," said Autumn levelly.

"I gathered," he said, "Otherwise you wouldn't be in here,"

Autumn shrugged slightly, wondering what he might do next. She remembered the ebony blackness in the eyes of the vampire earlier in the night and wondered if Damon's own icy blues would descend to the same colour.

"Come here," he said, in a tone little higher than a whisper but she found herself obeying. She moved from her spot in the centre of the room and sat gingerly on the edge of the bed upon which he was sprawled. Nobody in their right mind could fail to register the intimacy of such a moment, even if she had no intention of going any closer, which she didn't, she was sat upon his bed sheets, he half-naked less than a metre distant.

Damon's eyes found hers and she held his gaze, trying not to let any of her thoughts or emotions betray her. Then something shifted in his face, the veins under his eyes became more pronounced so she could see each pound of the heart, each pumping of blood run through them; his eyes darkened as well not losing their blue entirely, but going to something closer to the midnight sky than their usual morning frost colour. Then her eyes were drawn to his mouth, the mouth that was usually slung in some of lazy smirk, was now slightly open at the lips so she could see the bottoms of his teeth. Two razor sharp white points sat amongst the rest of his perfectly human teeth and she couldn't help but gasp. Somewhere in her mind she had told herself that this all must be a joke, a Halloween trick gone wrong – but now she could see it for herself, Damon had literally transformed before her eyes. There was no joke or trick here. He looked utterly deadly.

And then his face returned to normal, his eyes cleared to their normal shade and the tenseness that he had all over his body had relaxed. Autumn had noticed that tension until it was gone, but then it was perfectly obvious to her. He was the ultimate predator, and every muscle in his body was probably screaming – especially when he allowed his vampiric side through the tiny chink in the armour – to kill her. Or certainly to taste her blood.

"Satisfied?" asked Damon after a moment more of silence.

"Not really," she said, drawing herself further onto the bed so she was more comfortable, "I still have a whole repertoire of questions"

"Best get comfortable then," he said, chucking her a pillow for her to prop herself up on facing him. She couldn't help but smile at the gesture.

"Aren't you frightened?" he asked suddenly.

"Not really," she said honestly, "There is the odd moment of fear, but then I remember you've promised not to hurt me,"

"But I'm a predator," he said bluntly, "What if I'm lying? Or what if I lose control?"

She faltered somewhat at that suggestion but then rallied herself, "I guess I'm just going to have to trust you,"

Damon chuckled, "Not many people have ever done that,"

"Poor you," said Autumn with a slight hint of a sarcasm, but just a touch so that he knew she meant the sentiment somewhat.

"So," she said, "Obviously I'm not an idiot… and since you've been in town there's been a lot of animal attacks. Victims in the hospital… loss of blood…"

Damon breathed out through his nose, "Well, what do you want me to say?"

"It was you?" she said calmly, somehow, of course she already knew that this was true without even asking.

"Most of them," he said, "But I never kill unless I can absolutely help it,"

She nearly spat a sharp retort at him here, something about nobility, but she bit it back – she clearly had his trust and his tongue and she didn't want to lose it.

"What about the three who were with Vicky?" she said

"Accidents," he said almost dismissively, "They were so far gone on drink and drugs that they succumbed quickly, I didn't mean to,"

She nodded, forcing the churning of her stomach to be still, "And the death of the hiker the other day?"

"Not me," he said quickly, "I swear it. I don't kill unless it's by accident, or unless there's something to be gained from such a death,"

"So who was it?" asked Autumn, "Stefan?"

Damon laughed despite himself, "No. No, Stefan is on what a vampire might call a vegetarian diet. He only drinks the blood of animals,"

"Why don't you do that?" Autumn challenged

Damon raised an eyebrow at her, "Because it would be like me saying to you that you had to live on nothing but tofu and soya for the rest of your life. That it would make you weaker, less able to be yourself…"

Autumn was silent before saying, "So it's a selfless decision?"

"Very," said Damon and then his eyes caught Autumn's, "Have I ever come across as selfless? If so then I apologise for misrepresentation."

"Not really," agreed Autumn, "It seems like a fairly serious thing to be dismissive about,"

Damon didn't say anything but made a noise of displeasure, "It is a decision I made a very long time ago after seeing what Stefan was like at times, I don't really need to be taxed upon it now,"

Autumn could clearly here the cease and desist note in his words and apologised accordingly. She wasn't entirely sure why she was apologising – Damon was guilty of grievous bodily harm, murder even, and yet here she was, accepting his justification. She supposed that the laws of the land didn't apply here, that black was now blacker and everything needed adjusting accordingly.

"You mentioned a very long time ago," she said not moving from her spot, "How long have you been a vampire for?"

"A very long time," he replied evasively and when she raised an eyebrow at him for more he just shrugged, causing her to frown. As she did so she shivered very slightly, due to the fact she was just wearing leggings and a singlet in this large room.

"Cold?" he asked, and she nodded slightly.

"The fire could do with stoking up," he said motioning to a fireplace far away from the bed, on the other side of the room, "I put it down when I came up, but we can bring it back up again,"

"If you don't mind?" Autumn asked, sliding off the bed as Damon said he didn't mind, "Where's the stoke and logs?"

"In the cupboard by the fireplace," he said lazily, not bothering to actually show her. Well she wasn't an idiot, so she found it quickly and chucked another log onto the smoldering embers of the earlier evening's fire. She then reached for the iron fire poke to encourage it to take. As her fingers closed around the cool metal, a pain worse than anything she had ever felt in her life shot up her arm and seemed to set her whole brain aflame. She dropped to the floor with a yelp before she'd even realised what she was doing. The next thing she knew, as the pain subsided about five seconds later was Damon crouched next to her, seemingly real concern etched onto his features.

"Are you okay?" he asked, "What happened?"

"I don't know," Autumn replied, "I just touched that and then this pain floored me, no idea what on earth that was – I feel fine now,"

"This?" asked Damon taking the fire poker out of the cupboard, Autumn automatically shied away from it, not wanting to feel that same pain over again.

"Yeah that," said Autumn staring at it, "Why would it?"

Damon looked at it and then her very closely, his brow furrowed deep in thought.

"Well?" asked Autumn, after he had been silent momentarily.

"I have a hunch," he said, "But it's so crazy that it couldn't possibly be true,"

"What?" she asked, "Tell me!"

"No," he said with a finality in his voice, "I have no idea if it's even possible, or anything close to the truth, so there's no point disclosing it."

"Spoilsport," said Autumn childishly

"Maybe," said Damon grimly, chucking the poker back into the cupboard and then turning to help her up, "That fire doesn't look like it's going to catch without relaying it,"

"Oh," said Autumn looking across at it.

"Have you got any more asinine questions to ask about Vampires?" he asked with something close to a grin.

"Only several hundred," she said softly.

"Well come on then," he said, "You can get in here – it's big enough for about five,"

Autumn looked across at him, a little bit shocked at the suggestion.

"Just promise you won't tell Elena?" asked Damon, "I don't want Stefan lecturing me"

Autumn giggled slightly at the thought, "Promise,"

"Come on then," he said, and in one of his more human moments of the night he mock-glared at her as they got in, "You better not be a duvet-snatcher"

Autumn couldn't help but laugh at this paradox of a man.


	12. Realisations and Visitations

Chapter Twelve

Autumn awoke to the sound of the bedroom door slamming back on its hinges and a worried voice calling her name. The voice wasn't instantly familiar to her in the groggy nature of her first wakening seconds, but the she realised that Stefan was stood in the doorway.

"Yeah?" she murmured, noticing as she sat up slightly that Damon was no longer lying in the indent in the other side of the bed.

"Are you alright?" Stefan asked coming a little closer, his mouth was a firm hard line and Autumn could see that he was already jumping to conclusions. In a way she could see where he was coming from; why else would she be lying in Damon's bed?

"Yes, I'm fine," she said sliding out of the bed and standing up on the wooden floor, she saw a momentary look of relief pass over Stefan's features as he realised she was still wearing the clothes of last night. Autumn didn't quite know how to feel about Stefan, armed with the knowledge that she learned last night. Did he know that she knew?

"Where's Elena?" Autumn asked warily.

"At your house," said Stefan quietly, "She knows"

"She knows?" Autumn asked stupidly, somehow thinking she was the only one who would be armed with this knowledge for a while.

"Yes, after the attack last night," said Stefan, "She started to put the pieces together, much like I'm sure you did. Except you were more obviously exposed to it. I felt it would be imprudent for you to know and have your sister still be in the dark,"

"Rather," Autumn said quietly, "Why are you here now then, why are you not with her?"

"She kicked me out," said Stefan, "Said she never wanted to see me again. She's feeling a little hysterical this morning, she's going spare about you so I suggest you get back before she starts a search party herself,"

"That seems a little odd for Elena," said Autumn

"I'm surprised that you're so calm," said Stefan offhandedly.

"We had a long time to talk last night," said Damon, suddenly appearing in the doorway behind his brother.

"So I see," said Stefan without moving from his spot.

"Oh get over yourself little brother," said Damon, sipping a cup of coffee that he had brought in with him, he had also made one for Autumn, "Nothing happened, and even it had done, it would be approximately none of your business"

Stefan didn't seem to be in the mood to argue, "Whatever, just get her home soon, she seems like she's going to be the one to talk to Elena,"

"Did you girlfriend not take it well?" asked Damon

Stefan didn't say anything, his lips just formed a thin line that gave away his answer. Autumn took a sip of coffee and smiled, Damon had put a shot of caramel syrup in it; how had he known that that was what she liked? Her mind drifted back to the thought of mind control but then remembered that Damon had promised he would never do that to her and relaxed. Maybe he drank the same.

"Now if you don't mind Stefan," drawled Damon lazily, "I would quite like to get ready if I'm to take Autumn home before a mob arrives at our door with torches and pitchforks,"

"Pretty sure that's ogres Damon" said Autumn looking across at him. Damon grinned and then shrugged as Stefan left the room with a huff.

"Urgh, moody teenagers," said Damon after he'd left and Autumn couldn't help but giggle. She sat on the bed as Damon got ready, disappearing round a corner into the bathroom to get dressed. Well at least dressed somewhat, he appeared back in the bedroom without a shirt on and she couldn't help but stare at the sculpted view in front of her. He, of course, noticed and smirked in her direction. That was the problem with Damon; he was attractive and he damn well knew it.

He took his time getting dressed, so she finished her coffee and got together her few things from the night before which she had left in the room she had started the night in.

"Ready?" asked Damon about five minutes later when he'd finished.

"Yes," she said, "But when we get back you better drop me off at the end of the street, don't want Elena trying to run out and set you on fire"

"I'd like to see her try," scoffed Damon, but when Autumn raised her eyebrow at him, he shrugged and nodded in agreement.

"What are you going to say to her?" asked Damon when they passed out of the hallway, ignoring Stefan's accusatory glances as they left.

"I have no idea," Autumn said, "In reality I have no idea why I'm so calm, let alone what I'm going to say to her. Surely I should be more like her?"

"Well I wasn't," said Damon as they drove down the driveway.

"Weren't what? Scared?" asked Autumn; this was something new, they hadn't really touched on Damon's past last night. They had mostly talked about what being a vampire meant for them _now_. Autumn knew he was old, but he hadn't really spoken of anything more than that.

"Not really," he said, "I was more intrigued – as you seem to be,"

"Who was it that told you?" Autumn asked and then twisted the word slightly, "Turned you?"

"That's a very long story again," he said looking across at her, "And one I'm not sure I want to tell. At the moment."

Autumn huffed very slightly, she thought they'd got passed all the secrets bullcrap last night, but as she thought about it she realised this guy was a vampire. Everything about him was secret. He had opened the door to his life a tiny chink for her last night; there was so much more to know, from him and about him.

They arrived at the end of her street and she got out, wondering what sort of volcanic eruption would be waiting for her behind the door of her house. Then again, knowing Elena she would probably be railing quietly to herself, wondering whether to grab her torch and pitchfork, or whether to get swept away by it all.

"I'll speak to you later," said Damon as she got out. The look in his eyes told Autumn that he would be speaking to her about his safety; were he and his brother safe to remain in this town with Elena around?

"Also, be careful about who you invite in," he said with a small smile, "You remember what that guy looked like last night?"

Autumn nodded slowly as Damon spoke again, "Just be careful"

"I will be," she said and turned towards the house. It was so nice that Damon cared about her enough to warn her; she knew part of it was self-preservation. As far as she was aware, she was the only one in this town who knew his secret and was not entirely freaked out by the prospect of it.

Something inside her was keeping her calm. She felt goosebumps rise on her skin from the sudden chill wind as she unlocked the front door of the house and went in.

"Elena?" she asked softly, "Where are you?"

"Autumn?" came a whispered voice from upstairs, "In your room,"

Part of her wanted to ask why her sister was not in her room, but she let it fly and taking the stairs very lightly she entered the bedroom. Elena was sat on the floor amidst loads of sheaves of paper, each detailed various things about vampires that she had clearly pulled off the internet. Some were fairly normal looking, other totally gruesome.

"Are you okay?" asked Autumn looking down at the mess

"Yeah," said Elena numbly, "I just don't know what to feel. What about you? Are you okay? He didn't..?"

Autumn wondered what she was getting at for a minute before she laughed at the realization, "Bite me? Hell no!"

Elena bit her lip at her Autumn's apparent confidence in the situation.

"Damon swore not to hurt me," Autumn said

"And you believed him?!" Elena asked, her eyes bugging out slightly.

"Well, I'm standing here aren't I?" asked Autumn sitting down next to her twin, "Why should I not have believed him?"

"Well he's… he's…" Elena struggled to say the word.

"I know," said Autumn, "And the world is a very different place today than it was last night. And yet somehow it seems to make more sense. Did you not feel it? That something was missing in the gaps of stories we were always told?"

"I guess," said Elena, "Doesn't make it any less terrifying. When Stefan told me it was all I could not to scream,"

"I nearly did," said Autumn, "I tried to run, but Damon kept me in the house until sunrise due to the new vampire in town."

"Stefan did mention something about that before I forcibly kicked him out," said Elena, "I just couldn't believe it,"

Autumn sat quietly for a moment before shrugging, "It's so difficult to explain all that Damon told me last night. I can't explain it to you without missing bits out, probably frightening you more,"

"Why are you so calm?" asked Elena, her voice ever so slightly tearful.

"I don't know," said Autumn, and she truly didn't. She couldn't quite place her finger on why she was okay with this.

"I think you should talk to Stefan," said Autumn and she heard Elena gasp in shock slightly.

"What?" her sister asked

"He can explain it much better than I can," said Autumn gently.

"Yes," said Elena, "But he's one of them"

"One of them?" Autumn repeated, "What does that even mean? Have we drawn sides already?"

Elena faltered slightly, having realised what she just said, "I guess not,"

"I can't be an oracle on this, but I spoke to Damon last night and he was exactly the same," Autumn said, "If you're prepared to be calm with Stefan, I'm sure he can be… at least partially… honest with you,"

Elena nodded slowly, as to herself before speaking, "Thank you, I think I'll ask to meet him. But somewhere public. I don't care what you say Autumn, this is totally messed up and actually really terrifying. My head is an utter mess,"

Autumn agreed, "But I think we have to say one thing..."

"Don't breathe a word of it to Jeremy?" asked Elena

"You read my mind," said Autumn before getting to her feet, "I'm going to have a rest now. My head is aching something fierce and I was up most of the night. If you want anything though, just come by"

Elena smiled, "I think I'll be okay, we'll talk later,"

Autumn nodded and made to leave the room, she turned back at the doorway and nodded to her sister. She seemed more settled than when she had first walked in, she was looking at the paper in front of her, but she had begun to gather it up.

Autumn's head throbbed and she turned to leave to the cool and solitude of her own room. She was suddenly very tired and she couldn't wait for the sweet oblivion of sleep.

* * *

"More research?" came a slightly mocking voice from the other side of the room. Damon paid his little brother no attention as he gazed at the page of a very old book that he'd found on one his shelves.

"You really are interested in this girl aren't you?" Stefan persisted as he walked around his elder brother and looked down at him.

"Something happened last night," said Damon shortly, his eyes not moving from the page.

"Elaborate?" asked Stefan

"She touched iron and collapsed," Damon said, finally looking up at his brother.

"Iron?" asked Stefan his face confused, "How do you mean?"

"In the same way vervain fells us," Damon said, "Except not as long lasting, but just as devastating,"

"I've only ever heard of that in folk talkes before, relating to –

"-precisely," said Damon cutting him off, "Hence the book. I picked this up in New Orleans in the 40's, when I was really interested in finding out everything I could. Some old crone gave it to me in return for a vial of my blood; she said it contained mysteries that even I in my eternal life would never experience,"

"But she was wrong," breathed Stefan, his eyes wide at the momentous idea that had just been voiced.

"But I need to go see Bree," said Damon, "She'll know,"

"Are you going to take Autumn?" asked Stefan

"Yeah she needs to come too," said Damon, "I think she's just as perplexed as I am. Part of me excited by the prospect, part of me utterly terrified,"

"So you think it could be true?" asked Stefan

"I've got know other bright ideas," said Damon, "And last night, when I was telling her about us, her ultimate willingness to believe, to accept… I don't know. Maybe something in her is telling her that the extra-ordinary, the super natural, is okay"

Stefan nodded, his lips tight and his brow furrowed in thought.

"When will you go?" he asked. Damon shrugged and made to reply but was interrupted by the sound of a slamming door, and the sound of a speeding vampire. He stood up and he could feel every muscle in his body prepare itself for a fight, he didn't need to look across at his brother to know that he had done the same.

The sound sped across the upstairs hallway, and then down the stairs. He was trying to lay eyes on whoever it was that was running circles around them before a loud 'oof!' drew his attention to his side. His brother was flat on his back with a very attractive blonde lying on top of him.

"Lexi?" came Stefan's voice before he burst out laughing.

Damon relaxed, rolled his eyes and picked his book up off the floor. These two would be reminiscing for hours; he would go somewhere else to finish formulating his plan. He also needed to speak to Autumn about the Elena situation.


	13. Racing To An Invisible Line

**A.N - Thank you everyone who messaged on the last chapter! I've tried to reply to all named reviews, but to the Guest who sent me about 5 - thank you! I couldn't respond because you posted anonymously... :)**

Chapter Thirteen

It was raining hard now; the drops coming down like stair-rods and pounding the pavement outside. The tree outside of Autumn's bedroom was taking a battering as it's leaves bent ground wards under the onslaught. Autumn stood by the window looking out at the weather, feeling peaceful at what she saw. She'd always liked the rain, it made her feel relaxed and also she saw it as the stuff of life; she'd seen what this place could be like after two months of drought, everything was arid and dying. She didn't like it when it was like that; everything in moderation, but with enough water to keep life afloat as it were.

She stood listening for a good five minutes, feeling powerful as she watched. There was something mesmerising about a rainstorm and she couldn't help but continue to watch, imagining the droplets falling on her face and all about her. Elena was out there somewhere, having a conversation with Stefan about what she had learnt last night, hopefully without panicking too much. Jeremy was out with Vicky, and Jenna was still at college, quite probably on her way home now actually; but for the time being she was home alone.

She was torn away from the window by a ring of the doorbell. Autumn frowned slightly to herself, wondering who it could be; maybe Jenna had forgotten her key or something? She ran down the stairs two at a time to let her in out of the storm. But when she opened the door it wasn't Jenna; it was the man from last night, the vampire. He grinned at her, his mouth twisting upward in a sinister grin.

Autumn let out a little yelp and made to slam the door but the man stopped her by holding out his arm; she could feel his strength overpowering hers instantly. She let go under the onslaught.

"You can't come in!" she cried and took a step back away from the door.

"Too late sweetheart," said the man with a crooked grin, his toe slipping over the threshold, "You should lecture your brother more severely on letting strange maintenance men into the house"

Autumn blanched, didn't speak anymore but turned on her heel and ran towards the kitchen, her mind randomly thinking of knives and other such weapons. She could hear the man approaching down the hallway as she slammed the kitchen door behind her. She looked wildly around her for some form of weapon but couldn't immediately see any; her only choice was to run; out the back door and into the garden outside; the rain instantly soaking her to the skin.

The man had had enough of playing games with her and the next second he was in front of her using the super speed that vampires possessed. His vice like grip held her arm as she struggled to escape. She felt it bruise.

"What do you want from me?" she asked desperately as his face shifted to the face of death, the one she had seen painted on Damon's face oh so recently.

As his face leant towards her neck he spoke, "You're supposed to be the answer to all of this"

Her mind boggled; what was that supposed to mean? In the next second she expected to feel the slicing pain of being bitten, but instead their was a bellow of pain from the man in front of her and his grip had gone, tearing her shirt as it went. She looked around wildly to see him cowering under the eaves of the house, nursing fast healing welts on his skin where he appeared to have been burnt, as by boiling water.

He glared at her, his turning black with anger and she waited for him to strike, unsure as to why he had let go in the first place but once again he never did. There was a noise like a clap of thunder and he was on the floor. Two vampires were fighting in her back yard! It didn't take her long to figure out that it was Damon attempting to destroy her would-be assailant. She looked up at the windows of the neighbouring houses in the hope that nobody was looking out at the scene going on; it was cloudy and fairly dark so she doubted they'd be able to see much anyway.

The was a heave of effort in front of her and Damon was sat on top of the guy's chest, his fingers spread-eagled above his where his heart would sit. The guy was breathing heavily but there was a tinge of panic in his eyes.

"Why are you here?" asked Damon, his voice fairly steady, but hard as nails.

The other man didn't answer, his lips pursed in a tight thin line.

"One more chance," said Damon softly, his voice sounding dangerous. Even with his back to her, Autumn could tell he was utterly poised to strike, deadly as a cornered cobra.

The man said nothing, "Go on, end it, you're good at that aren't you, Damon? Do me a favour… end it…"

Damon didn't need telling twice and his fingers plunged into the man's chest causing Autumn to scream and whip her head away from the scene – she didn't want to see that. She didn't turn back for a good ten seconds, but when she did they were both gone. A second later and Damon was back; his hands clean.

"What-?" Autumn asked, utterly bewildered, pushing a piece of hair that stuck to her face with the still pouring rain.

Damon looked down at her, visibly sighing slightly.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, to go through that," he said.

"But why?" she asked still shocked.

"He'd been invited in," was all Damon said in explanation. Autumn looked down at the patch of grass where the man had died and visibly shivered.

"Come on, let's get inside before you catch pneumonia," said Damon, his eyes with something close to concern in them as he looked down at her. He, on the other hand, was totally unperturbed by the rain lashing against his skin.

Autumn nodded numbly and allowed him to lead her inside. The front door was still open, so he went to shut that whilst she got a towel from the airing cupboard and started to manually dry her hair off a bit.

"How did he get in?" asked Damon roughly, clearly a little bit alarmed by the situation as he thought about it.

"Jeremy invited him in earlier," said Autumn, "Thought he was a maintenance man"

Damon made a low noise of derision in the back of his throat. Autumn didn't reply, she was still too shocked about the death of that man and the fact that his killer was stood in front of her. She was experiencing entirely mixed feelings, part of her was feeling utter repulsion, but another part was feeling grateful. Damon had saved her life, regardless of the method.

"I burned him," said Autumn softly after a moment of silence.

"What do you mean?" asked Damon sharply, his eyes glancing over her inquisitively.

"When he first tried to attack me, and the time before, I physically burned him," she said, "And tonight, I seemed to boil the rain, 'cause when I looked up he had welts on his arms, as if burned. But that's not possible, is it?"

Damon looked at her closely for a moment, "Do you really think it's not possible?"

"I don't know what to think!" she said, "My life was normal-ish a month ago, but now comets make me ill, the rain boils around me, vampires exist, my friend claims to be a witch – which could quite possible be true these days – I get attacked twice in two days – what should I think?"

"I can't tell you what to think," he said, "But you should know now, that most things are possible, or certainly not beyond imagining"

Autumn nodded numbly and to her horror she felt her lip wobble very slightly, "It's just so confusing"

Damon looked at her for a moment, and then did something terribly un-Damon like - as far as she could tell anyway – and opened his arms so she could step into them. She faulted for a moment at the thought of walking into the arms of a murderer, but then she overcame that at the thought that he would see her tears. His arms were strong around her and she couldn't help but feel comforted as she laid her head against his marble chest. He let her stay for the while it took to get herself under control and then she moved away.

She looked at him ruefully, "I got your shirt all wet"

"It's alright, it'll dry," he said with a grin. As he spoke she heard her phone beginning to ring and she hurried through to the lounge to answer it.

"Hey Jenna," she said as she picked it up, "Where are you?"

"I'm going to hang around here for a bit," came Jenna's voice, "I can't really drive home in this; it isn't safe"

"Oh okay," said Autumn, "That's fine, wait as long as you like,"

"There's leftover pizza in the fridge if you want it," Jenna said, "I know Jeremy's out with Vicky so it's just you and Elena to sort it out,"

"That's fine," said Autumn doubting that after what she had seen tonight she would ever be hungry again.

"Sure you're going to be okay?" said Jenna picking on the worry in Autumn's voice.

"Yeah I'll be fine," Autumn said, "Damon's here anyway,"

"He is?" asked Jenna; now it was her turn to sound worried, "Well…"

"Jenna!" said Autumn sharply, "Don't even think it,"

"Alright," said Jenna with relief in her voice, "I'll be back as soon as I can,"

"Right, see you later," said Autumn

"Bye," Jenna said before hanging up. Autumn took the phone away from her ear and hung up, a small frown on her face. Did Jenna seriously think she was going to crawl into bed with Damon because they were home together? She wasn't… Vicky… for godsake. Not that she had any problem with Vicky, but still.

"Jenna?" came a voice from behind her.

"Yeah," said Autumn, "As if you couldn't hear"

Damon smirked slightly, "Have to at least to pretend to be polite,"

Autumn raised her eyebrow for a moment, resting her phone against her lips in thought. She held out almost like a remote control when she spoke again.

"How did you know I was in trouble?"

"I didn't," he said with a shrug, "I was coming by anyway to tell you something and I heard what was going on,"

"Lucky," she said almost to herself.

"Sort of," he said, "If you count getting attacked by a rogue vampire as lucky"

Autumn shrugged and then sighed; she looked outside seeing that it was now fully dark.

"I wonder where Elena's got to," she said

"Well, I imagine her and Stefan have a lot to talk about," said Damon, "It took us most of the night,"

"True," she mused, "What were you on your way here for then?"

"I found something out," he said, "Or at least I think I did,"

"Oh?" Autumn said, almost a touch skeptically, wondering what he could possibly spring on her now.

"About you," he said, piquing her interest, "And why you've been experiencing the things you have lately,"

"And…?" she said suddenly eager to know more.

"We need to go visit a friend of mine," he said, "To confirm what I think,"

"What?" Autumn's mind reeled at the fact he wouldn't tell her, "Why can't you tell me?"

"Because I don't want to if I'm wrong," he said, "Bree will know"

"Oh aye?" Autumn asked, her sarcasm fully returned, "And why would she, if you don't?"

"Bree's a witch," said Damon, "And far more experienced that your little friend Bonnie,"

Autumn's jaw instantly dropped at the two bombshells in that sentence. Damon couldn't help but smirk at her reaction and she almost wanted to hit him for telling her like that. She had no doubt that his words were true, but after all the truths she had had in the passed forty-eight hours, she wasn't sure she could take much more.

"It's true?" she asked, "After all of Bonnie's blathering, it's true?"

"Yup," said Damon with a glint in his eye, "As I said before Autumn; this is a brave new world. You don't think that the things that have been happening to you, and to Mystic Falls all happened in the realm of the probable or the normal?"

"No," she said leaning against the nearest chair for support, "But I thought the _para_normal might only have run to vampires. But now apparently there's witches and god knows what else! What's next… werewolves?"

"No, they're definitely a myth," said Damon and Autumn realised he was being totally serious.

She shook her head slightly, "But why didn't Bonnie tell me?"

"She did," said Damon, "You just didn't believe her,"

Autumn was silent when she realised that this was perfectly true, "And does she know about all this?"

"Well she's knows there's something off about Stefan and I if that's what you mean," he said with another grin, "Something dark. Something evil."

Autumn couldn't answer his grin, but she did feel a slight burgeoning of laughter at his blasé attitude.

Autumn took a deep breath and looked across at him again, "So this Bree is going to be able to answer the questions?"

"I'm not saying she will for definite," said Damon offhandedly, "But she's my best bet… and yours"

Autumn nodded, "When do you wanna go?"

"As soon as possible," said Damon with a shrug.

"I'll need to tell Elena first," Autumn said, "And she's got her phone off so I can't get hold of her"

Damon glanced across at her, "Leave a note?"

* * *

Elena came in through door, Bonnie close behind her and shut the door quietly.

"How do you feel?" asked Bonnie quietly, wondering if her friend was about to explode with anxiety.

Elena leant heavily against a counter top in the kitchen and then turned around to face her, "I just don't understand why you didn't tell me"

"And would you have believed me?" Bonnie asked, resisting the urge to be slightly sarcastic. That was the last thing Elena needed right now.

Elena let that one pass with a nod, "Probably not," she said, "But it was still a shock to have Stefan let it drop,"

"I guess," said Bonnie, "I'm sorry, and I'm sorry that Stefan knows,"

"Why?" asked Elena

"I don't really trust him," said Bonnie

"What, why?" asked Elena

"Well, do you?" asked Bonnie

"Well after what he's told me today…" said Elena, "I'm inclined to believe him, even if I can't be with him,"

Bonnie sighed and shrugged, "It remains to be seen,"

Elena nodded and then looked around, "Where's Autumn?"

"I don't know," said Bonnie with another shrug, "Out?"

"In this?" asked Elena gesturing to the weather, her forehead creasing slightly with stress, "Autumn!"

"Here, there's a note," said Bonnie who had just looked on the table. Elena walked over to her side, tucking her long brown hair behind her ear and looking at it.

_Hey E, _

_Gone with Damon to visit a friend of his;_

_Says they might have some answers for me, _

_I'll be back soon_

_Don't worry, Damon will keep me safe,_

_A_

_X_

"Oh god," breathed Elena, her mind whirring with all the things she had learned that day from Stefan.

"What are we going to do?" asked Bonnie.

Elena let out a low breath, re-reading the note, "As much as I don't want to, I'm going to have to ask Stefan. His friend Lexi is in town. They might be able to help,"

"But help with what?" said Bonnie, trying to get some calm into the situation, "It looks like Autumn went willingly,"

"Yes!" said Elena slightly hysterically, "But she doesn't know what I know about Damon!"

"Alright," said Bonnie, "Then we'll talk to Stefan. But not tonight, it's very late and they'll be nothing they can do right now. What you need most is to sleep on it"

Elena nodded and rubbed her eyes, finally letting her tiredness creep into her bones; she was exhausted, she hadn't slept well for a few nights with the revelations that had come hurtling at her. She suddenly felt like she'd been run over by a truck.

"Alright," she agreed and leaned on the table, glancing at the paper under her fingers, "I just hope she's going to be okay,"

Bonnie stood her shoulder, rubbing her arm slightly, a small smile on her face.

"Come on," she said to her friend, and turned to lead her upstairs.


	14. To Begin Things

Chapter Fourteen

Damon drove down a long open road, his window open and his arm leaning on the lip so it was in the sun. The rain from last night had long stopped and the watery sun had risen over the flat landscape. Damon still revealed in the light of the sun; every day spent in the darkness at first was etched in his memory, so now each day spent in the light was a blessing. He watched it rise over the world each day and wondered why he was able to see it, why such things were possible, why he had lived three man's life spans and was still here. Beyond possibility and yet total reality. He never found it boring and he found that the days had yet to bled into one.

Things constantly continued to astound him; even though he'd been alive for lifetimes. He looked across at the passenger seat of his car and saw Autumn sleeping there; she looked so like Katherine and yet she was so unlike her. In more ways than he had first imagined, and if Bree confirmed to him what he thought he knew then he would have to get to know her again, as she would have to get to know herself over again. Everything would change.

He wondered whether he was going to get towards the bottom of the mystery of Autumn and Elena. If what he suspected was true then he would at least know_ that_ part, but it still wouldn't solve as to why they could literally, in a third dimension, _be_ Katherine. They weren't just like twins; they were basically body doubles. He didn't even want to begin to think where that came from; his mind was already full of the possibilities that he'd thought of recently.

Autumn stirred slightly in her seat as the sunlight hit her closed eyes. She let out a little sleepy yawn and sat up slowly, getting used to the world around her first thing in the morning.

"Morning," said Damon

"Hey," she said sleepily and rubbed her eyes, "Where are we?"

"About a hundred miles from where we need to be," said Damon with a small smile.

"And you've not stopped," she said twisting in her seat, "Do you want me to drive?"

"I don't need to sleep," said Damon, "It's fine"

"What, like at all?" said Autumn amazed, "What's the bed in your room for then?"

"No," said Damon, "It's more comfortable if we do, but we can go without… And there are plenty of other things you can do in a bed than sleep,"

Autumn didn't blush, she merely raised an eyebrow in his direction, causing him to grin.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive?" Autumn asked again.

"Nope," he said, "It'll be fine"

"Oh well," said Autumn, "Wake me up when we get there,"

"Some company you are," said Damon with a grin in his voice.

"It's 6.30am," she said shortly after glancing at the clock, "I'm not nocturnal like you,"

Damon smirked, "Alright fine, have your beauty sleep. I'll wake you when we're near"

"Thanks" said Autumn already back on the edge of sleep. Her eyes fluttered closed and soon she was out like a light. Some driver she would have been.

* * *

"I can't believe you came all this way just for my birthday," said Stefan with a laugh looking across at his overly blonde friend.

"Well it's not every day that a guy turns a hundred-and-sixty-two years old!" said Lexi with a grin and raised her glass.

"Birthdays get boring after a while," said Stefan staring moodily into his own, "And anyway, as I clearly prove, age is just a number,"

"You think you prove it?" asked Lexi with a grin, "I think I'm looking pretty good for being over three hundred – look, no wrinkles!"

Stefan laughed at that.

"So where are we going to go?" asked Lexi, moving to the edge of the sofa.

"Go?" asked Stefan, "Where on earth would we go?"

"We could go back to New York!" said Lexi, "Do you remember the summer of '89?"

"How could I forget?" Stefan laughed, "Best summer ever!"

Lexi nodded, "Ah, those were the days. So, how about it?"

"Eh…" said Stefan, "I can't at the moment…"

"Why?" asked Lexi with a frown

Stefan didn't say anything but shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Lexi's jaw dropped open.

"A girl?!" she exclaimed.

"Something like that," said Stefan, "Anyway, I can't leave at the moment. She's er… just found out about me and she's beginning to trust me, so I can't do a runner,"

"Oh right," Lexi said, "And how does she feel about that?"

"She's a little unnerved," said Stefan

"As you would be," said Lexi with a shrug

"Her sister isn't," said Stefan

Lexi eyes bugged out, "Her sister knows too?! Stefan! How careless have you been?"

"I didn't tell them I swear!" said Stefan, "It's a really long story, but basically Autumn, that's the girl I like's sister, was attacked by a vampire – god only knows why – and so Damon told her everything; he kinda had too,"

"Damon?" asked Lexi, "What the hell has Damon got to do with anything?"

Stefan sighed slightly, "Well this is going to be longer than I expected,"

"Tell me everything!" said Lexi her eyes sparkling, "What's going on?"

Stefan grinned at her insatiable need for juicy gossip, asked whether she needed a drink before he started and then launched into the whole tale; what they knew, what they thought they knew and what they might be about to find out.

* * *

"You brought me to a bar?" asked Autumn looking up at the place where they'd pulled up, a tattered blue awning denoted the bar as _Bree's_.

"Yeah, what's wrong with a bar?" asked Damon with a nonchalant shrug moving away from the car towards the bar.

"Erm, I'm not old enough; they're not going to let me in," said Autumn not moving from her spot.

"Sure they will," said Damon with a glint in his eye. Autumn rolled her eyes and walked after him, refusing to be left on the curb; her heeled boots clicking on the pavement as she did so.

Damon let her pass him and walk into the bar, a grin on his face. He vaguely wondered why he was smirking and why he felt a slight stirring of attraction towards her. He put it down to the fact that she looked like Katherine, and regardless of what he might feel towards Autumn, his heart still burned for Katherine. He would never admit it to anyone; least of all Autumn… or Stefan for that matter. The thought of Katherine mummifying in that tomb sent a shudder down his spine; he would get back to thinking about that as soon as he got back. That was part of the reason he'd come to see Bree; yes he was overly curious about Autumn, but he always wanted her help to get Katherine back. He wondered what Katherine would make of Autumn and Elena if she ever met them. He felt like he already knew that answer to that and he wasn't entirely sure that he liked it.

"Well now you've brought me here are you coming or what?" asked Autumn from the porch. Damon hurried after her and walked into the dimly lit bar. There were a few people sat here and there inside, but it was mostly empty; it only being just after midday. His sensitive eyes scanned the bar for the woman he was looking for and spotted her almost immediately. Bree was cleaning the bar top with a rag and looked up as the two new customers walked in. Her face dropped in amazement and amusement.

"Well guess who it is," she said in her voice like liquid silk. With that she leapt up onto the bar top and swung her long legs over it, before coming up to him.

Autumn watched with some amazement as the woman, the witch, grabbed Damon by the collar and planted a kiss on his lips. And it wasn't just a kiss; it lasted for at least a minute of passion and memory, Autumn's eyes getting ever wider as she watched. Clearly there was some history here and she couldn't help but feel the unfamiliar pang of very slight jealousy as they broke apart and gazed at one another.

"Bree," said Damon with a grin, "May I introduce Autumn?"

Bree turned to look at her properly for the first time since they had walked in. Her eyes widened as she took her in.

"Holy shit," she said, "Katherine?"

"Nope," said Damon with a shrug, "But…"

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?" asked Autumn, "Who?"

Bree shook her head in amazement, "Never mind honey, anyway, welcome to my bar"

Bree held out her hand to Autumn and Damon held his breath, he wondered what the next second might tell him about the girl who stood next to him. Autumn took Bree's fingers in hers and Bree froze, as if she had been paralysed for a moment; it seemed as if her face had frozen in shock. Autumn looked totally disconcerted and loosed her hand from Bree's.

"Holy fuck," said Bree as she let go, "You're one of them"

"One of who?" asked Autumn, wondering what on earth she might be about to hear; in the answer to what the hell had been going on for the past month.

Bree's voice dropped to a hoarse whisper, "An elemental"

Damon's jaw dropped open in a look of surprise that looked totally out of place on his face. He hid it after a second but Autumn had already seen.

"What does that even mean?" asked Autumn looking between them utterly confused and slightly scared.

Bree breathed in, taking a step back, "We're going to need a drink"

Two drinks later each and Autumn was gobsmacked.

"I just don't understand," said Autumn, "How did I not know about any of this stuff? I'm an elemental _faerae_ of all things; surely I would have known about this before now?"

"Faerae's powers don't manifest themselves until their of mature age," explained Bree, "Eighteen"

"But I'm not eighteen," said Autumn

"But soon, right?" asked Bree

"Yeah," said Autumn uncomfortably, "Next month"

"Hmmm," said Bree looking at her.

Autumn was utterly bewildered, they were treating her as if she were a bomb about to go off, either that or that she would have a mental breakdown.

"I don't understand what this means for me," said Autumn

"Neither do I honey," said Bree, "Elemental faeraes are so rare that the documentation about them is pretty sparse. I only know about them because when reading a book a long time ago I noticed a passage, it interested me, so I researched more"

"But why am I one? How am I different to everyone else? Why am I different to everyone else?" said Autumn, the questions coming out like a torrent. Why was the world totally upside down?

Bree sighed and looked across at Damon who had been conspicuously quiet during this whole exchange.

"I can't answer why you are one," said Bree with a tinge of sadness in her eyes, "Only that you are; I can feel it in every fibre of your body, this power… Tell me, have you ever met a witch before?"

Autumn shifted uncomfortably, "Well I just found out one of my oldest friends belongs to a line of Salem witches,"

Bree's eyes widened again, "Really? Hmmm… well has anything strange ever happened between you? Especially recently?"

Autumn thought for a moment and then remembered the incident a few weeks ago where Bonnie had touched her and had an almost explosive reaction. She relayed this to Bree. And she nodded as if this is what she had expected her to say.

"That's what I felt like today; the only reason I was able to prevent myself was because I've know about my powers for longer; I'm more in control"

Autumn nodded deep in thought, "So what does this mean?"

"It can mean whatever you want it to," said Bree, "You're extremely powerful, and there is so much more you need to learn about it; more than I can possibly tell you. I can tell you one thing though…"

"What?" asked Autumn after Bree had trailed off. The witch looked uncomfortably across at Damon who looked equally as perplexed as Autumn.

"I don't think you should be around him honey," said Bree. Damon's eyes narrowed instantly but Autumn's expression remained the same.

"What? Why?" asked Autumn.

"Because that is a faerae's deadliest weakness – vampires. A faerae's blood is so pure that it is beyond the wildest dreams of most vampires to taste"

Autumn let out a short breath of shock at Bree's blunt statement. She looked across at Damon, an instinctive renewal of fear in her mind; his eyes met hers in something that might have been pleading and he swallowed. This conversation was clearly far from over.


End file.
